Christmas cards for 2016...

I know that Easter is just around the corner, and even though I've been busy making cards for that holiday, I've also made a couple of Christmas cards for my 2016 stash.

This card features a Recollections stamp that I picked up during Michaels' after-Christmas sale. I've stamped it onto a circle of wood-grained cardstock, colored in parts of it with Promarkers and added a few red enamel dots.  My little bow was the finishing touch.

My Christmasy DSP was from a 12" X 12" paper stack that I picked up at Joann's during another after-Christmas sale. Love those post-holiday sales!

I added another piece of the striped paper on the inside. My sentiment here is by Recollections.

This card features Heidi Swapp dies for dec. 25 - another post-Christmas purchase on sale! The dies actually were "december 25" but since it wouldn't all fit on my card, I used only "dec" and added a period. My snowflakes were cut from some fun foam using Impression Obsession dies. The fun foam gives them great dimension and helps them stand out.

A simple matted strip of my DSP decorates the inside, and my sentiment is once again a stamp by Recollections.

I'm entering both these cards into Darnell's NBUS challenge over at DJKardKreations. All the Recollections stamps and Heidi Swapp dies that I've used on these two cards are NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff). This is such a fun challenge, and it really encourages me to look at my supplies and use some of the things that are sitting there looking sad because they've not made it onto a card. Why not join in? You KNOW you've got NBUS, too!! :)

Tonight was the last show of the last season of Downton Abbey in my television area. Prior to watching the show, my DH and I attended a "Downton Abbey Tea" (a Christmas gift from one of our DDs) in a lovely and elegant old hotel in St. Paul, MN. It was a dress-up, five-course affair, and we really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we came home and watched the final show, along with another hour of extras about the filming of this fabulous series. I will miss it on Sunday nights!!

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #111 - Easter...

My fellow LCC teammates and I were all happy to create some Easter inspiration for you, given the timing of Let's Craft and Create's new challenge. Easter will be here before we know it, and there's no time like the present to get our cards made and sent to family and friends.

Here's what I came up with for this month's challenge:

I used my Silhouette to cut an egg-shaped aperture from a piece of white cardstock. Then I dry-embossed the cardstock with a folder by Darice.

Once that was done, I laid this white piece on top of my lavender card base and lightly marked the egg opening with a pencil. Then I put some double-sided tape around the outside of this egg shape and began laying strips of 1/8" purple ribbon in a criss-cross design.

Once that was done, I erased any pencil lies that might show and adhered my white cardstock onto my card base with double-sided foam tape, making sure the foam tape was also positioned to firmly hold my ribbon in place.

My little flowers were made with a Recollections punch and the greenery was made with an EK Success punch.

My sentiment was computer generated onto a stitched oval die-cut. Finally, tiny pearls were added to the ribbon joints and the flower centers.

The inside sentiment was also computer-generated. For a bit of decoration, I added three more flowers and a little greenery in the lower left corner.

Now it's your turn. We hope you'll join in our challenge to make an Eastery creation - it can be a card, a tag, a décor item or anything else your imagination can conjure up.

Visit Let's Craft and Create to get some amazing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. Believe me, when I say, their projects are awesome! You'll also find all the details for our Easter challenge there, and you can link your project at the end of the post. I can't wait to see your entries!

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

I donut know how I missed your birthday...

I felt so bad when I discovered that my Uncle's birthday had come and gone, and I had not sent him a card. Shame on me!!

I immediately set to work and made a belated birthday card...hopefully it's one that will make him smile.

I used a print and cut file (#80624) from the Silhouette Online store for my donut. I printed and cut it out twice with my Cameo.

Here you can see the layers of my donut. I've got double-sided foam tape between the two layers and between the bottom layer and my card. This adds some nice dimension.

I also added some glossy accents to the frosting, so it has a lovely sugar-glaze shine to it.

My sentiment here was also created with the Silhouette software. I colored the word "donut" with a Letraset Aqua Marker and then with a Wink of Stella glitter brush.

My little heart banner was made with a tiny heart stamp and some of the same kraft card stock that was used for my card base. I wanted to make sure my uncle felt loved, even though my card was late.

My inside sentiment was computer generated. I really should have printed out a small donut to put on the inside, but I was in such a hurry to get this in the mail that I didn't think of it in time.

I really need to make some belated birthday cards ahead of time so that they're there when I need them. And I certainly do need them every once in a while.

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

I've been sidetracked...

Hello, friends and fellow crafters. If you've noticed that I haven't been writing as many comments on your blog lately, it's because I've either had company or I've been helping out with grandchildren or both.

Right now, a daughter and granddaughter from Oregon are visiting for a few days. It's so much fun to have the people I love come and stay, but it does mean that I'm not able to tend to my own blog or the blogs I follow. I'm usually busy cooking, or planning what I'll cook, or buying groceries to make what I've planned to cook. It all takes so much time...or maybe I'm just getting slower and slower. Yeah, that's probably it.

I did manage to make a couple of thank you cards using a die that came with my last issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft.

I didn't take as much care as I should have in removing the little slivers of black paper from around my die-cut. I did work on it a bit more after my pictures were taken, but I was just too tired to retake the photos!

You can really see those little black threads of paper around my die-cut in the photo at left. Eek!

I also cut the thank you image out of pink paper. Then I fussy-cut the flowers off of it and glued them on top of the same flowers on my black die-cut. Finally, I added the gems for a little sparkle.

I always need thank you cards, so I think I'll get a lot of use out of this die. It dresses up a card lickety-split. The embossing folder that I used on my white mat is by Cuttlebug, and the ribbon is from my stash.

Here's another quick card done with a stitched oval die-cut to hold my sentiment. Very CAS, but I quite like it.

I should have some free time to do some serious card-making next week, and I have to say I'm looking forward to it. I really want to get some of those Easter cards done. I've managed to get the exteriors done on a few, but now I've got to work on the insides, as well.

Have a great weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by. Remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Spring-like Happy Birthday...

I'm really getting anxious for Spring to arrive, but since it's still rather cold and snowy outside, I decided to create some Spring in a birthday card.

This card was created using a cut file from the Silhouette Online Store.

I love this funky flower that was part of the card file. I inked the edges of the petals and leaves to give them a bit more dimension.

I added the butterflies using a small Fiskars punch.

The stamp is an old one - not sure of the manufacturer.

On the inside of my card, I added a white mat and stamped my sentient from a Fiskars clear stamp set. A couple more butterflies finished off my card.

I really love the Silhouette card files, as they are usually complete - they cut everything out for you and you simply have to assemble and embellish as desired.

This card is for a friend, and I think it will bring a smile to her face. I think she's going to like the fun shape, brightly colored paper and funky flower!

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

You are my cup of tea...

This is the Valentine I made for my husband with my Cameo, but I think this could definitely be used for other occasions - like an anniversary.

The cuts for the words and the cup were made in the turquoise mat. I backed the cup area with a beige cardstock and added a slightly larger black mat to the whole piece. The heart and brown "tea" oval were cut (Cameo again) and added after I had my card front put together.

Did you notice that I stamped some steam with an ink that was nearly the same turquoise color as my mat? Then I went over that with a Wink of Stella brush pen.

The inside of my card is pretty simple with a sentiment stamp by Fiskars. The three little hearts are a tiny stamp from another sentiment stamp set, but I'm not sure which one.

I loved making this card with my Cameo. Luckily, the machine did most of the work for me, as I was tight on time.

And speaking of time, I am CRAZY busy this week, taking care of three grandkids (Wed. through Sat.) while their parents take a little trip. I will be driving them to two different schools (at two different times) each day, packing school lunches, picking them up from school, taking them to swim practice, taking one to a swim meet, making sure they do their homework and get to bed on time. I also have a night class of my own to attend (my husband will stay with the kids), a volunteer commitment on Thursday and a book club meeting. My sister is also coming for a brief visit. Phew! Hope I don't get mixed up on who needs to be where and when!

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

Happy birthday, Sis...

Today is my younger sister's birthday, so

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEB!

We always have fun when we're together (which doesn't happen often enough), so I wanted to make a fun card for her.

This image is from Inky Antics. I paper-pieced her dress and colored the rest of her with my ProMarkers. Her earrings, necklace and purse were colored with a metallic gold pen, and her boa was given lots of texture with my Snow Writer marker.

For some sparkle on my card front, I added a few sequins in different sizes and different shades of turquoise. I always use Gem Tac glue to adhere my sequins. It seems to work really well to keep them in place.

And I just wanted to mention that my speech bubble was cut using my Cricut and the George cartridge.

Just look at the great dimension I got when I heated the ink from the Snow Writer. I also sprinkled the boa with some clear glitter before I heated it, so it has nice bit of sparkle.

I added a black "pearl" to her necklace with my black Viva Décor pen and some Diamond Glaze to her shoes to make them shine.

A tiny black pearl (Viva Décor pen again) was also added to her purse.

On the inside of my card, I added another piece of my matted DSP and a larger stitched rectangle to hold my sentiment. Both this sentiment and the one on the front of the card were computer-generated.

My sister Deb is incredibly crafty. She makes me look like a complete dullard in comparison. Click here to see an example of her crafty talent.

Happy birthday, again, Deb! I hope you're treated like a queen today, including back rubs and bon bons.

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