Another "mainly teal" card...

Just a quick post today with a simple card. I decided to try foiling some Easter eggs (clipart found online) on my card with teal foil--another entry for challenge #318 Mainly Teal over at Less is More.

I first printed the images with my laser printer, then covered them with Deco Foil, placed them in a carrier sheet and ran them through my laminator three times. I was so pleased with the end result.  The foil was smooth and solid and the coverage was excellent!

The sentiment was printed at the same time as the egg images, but I chose not to foil that.

To finish my card front, I added a few silver sequins and a little twine bow (now I'm thinking that bow was totally unnecessary, so next time--no bow!).

A stamped sentiment and flourish finished off the inside of my card. This was the quickest Easter card I have made to date, so I think I'll make a few more.

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

Cheryl

A "mainly teal" card...

There's a great challenge over on the "Less is More" challenge blog for "mainly teal" projects.  Well, I happen to have a mainly teal Valentine that I haven't had time to post yet, so I'm doing so now and entering it into the Less is More challenge.

I used a heart-patterned CS from my stash, finishing the bottom edge with a Spellbinder's curved border die. I backed my CS with a layer of black, then added a black strip and a stack of heart shapes on the front. I think you can see the glittery sparkle on the smallest heart.

The stamp for the "Love" sentiment came from a Recollections Valentine set of stamps and small cards. It's made with such a pretty font. A few teal-colored sequins finished off my card front.

The inside of my card is pretty simple with just a black mat and a pretty stamped Valentine's greeting by PSX.

I think this card could easily work for a wedding or anniversary card, too, don't you?

I spent Tuesday with my sister having fun with some of her dies - cutting them out on my Cuttlebug. We can't often get together because she lives so far away, but when we do, we like to share craft supplies, techniques and ideas,  and encourage each other in our card making.

She brought me a brand new die to add to my collection, and I gave her a sanding eraser. I have found this eraser to be a life saver because it can erase ink smudges on many solid core cardstocks!

Of course, we did a little crafty shopping, too.

Tomorrow I'll be volunteering all day at a local thrift shop. I wonder if they will have gotten any new crafting supplies in...

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

Cheryl

Twist and pop card...

This card was surprisingly easy to make, yet it looks really complicated. And I love the looks on people's faces when they open it up.

If you'd like to give one of these cards a try, you'll find a great tutorial on Splitcoaststampers here. There are also lots of other video tutorials on YouTube. Just search for Twist and Pop Card.

Now I should have straightened out that bow before I took this photo, but, oh well. That's the way the cookie crumbles. I had punched two tiny holes in my CS to string my twine through, so it actually is not glued down at all. That's why it's kind of "free ranging" all over the place. he he

When you open the card--Shazzam!--this is what you get. Isn't that awesome?

Of course, this does mean that there's a lot more inside decorating going on. You've got to think about what to put on the four little panels that "pop out."

It is a great way to use some of those smaller stamps that never get used, though. I had fun going through my stamps and picking out some smaller ones that would work. I ended up choosing from several different sets, mixing and matching them until I had something that worked.

On the inside top of my card, I added a die-cut. It's one of those cheapy ones that came from China. I think it cost about $1.50. It was the perfect size for this space.

Here's one last look at my card. I had so much fun making it, that I made another one right away. I'll share that one with you in another post.

We had a warm springlike day today, but with lots of wind. Tomorrow, temperatures are going to start sliding backward again. They say we could even have some snow by week's end. Sheesh! I never know from day to day if I should wear my wool coat or a rain coat or just head out with no coat at all.

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #123: Entwined (Use twine)...

We've got a fun new challenge for you over on Let's Craft and Create. We're calling it "EnTWINED" and asking you to use some twine on your creation.

I wanted to do a little more with twine than tie some around my card front and add a bow, but I really had a hard time coming up with something! Finally, I decided to use some twine for the stems of three shamrocks. I used natural twine because of its "woodsy" appearance.

To create my shamrocks, I punched out some small hearts with a Fiskars punch. I inked the edges, glued them to my cardstock and added a green brad for the center.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that I decided on the placement of my shamrocks first and glued my twine stems down before I added any of the heart shapes.

I made one four-leafer for good luck. You can see that I also added a nice coating of Wink of Stella to that one.

The legend of the shamrock (with three leaves) says that St. Patrick used it to explain the doctrine of the trinity.

As you can see, I still wound my twine around my CS a couple of times and tied a bow. My sentiment is from a thrift store stamp set. The stamped oval is popped up with foam tape.

My inside sentiment was computer-generated. I had a little trouble getting it to print clearly because I was using some pretty heavy cardstock that my printer did not like!  I added a little stamped shamrock (colored in with a Letraset Aqua Marker). This stamp came from the same thrift store stamp set (company unknown) as the sentiment.

Now it's your turn. You know you've got all that pretty twine sitting there begging to be used. We're giving you the perfect reason to put it to good use. Now go. Let your mojo take over, and don't forget to link your creation here.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and don't forget to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

We think you're spectacular...

I made a card recently for my son's birthday. He's in his (gulp) 40s. I don't even want to think about how old that makes me!

It's sort of a whimsical (that sounds better than "silly," right?) card, and I hope it brought a smile to his face.

I cut both the glasses and the bow tie with my Silhouette by tracing clipart images I found online.

Here's a closer look at those glasses. You can see that I added a couple of tiny "screws" in each corner with a silver Viva Décor pen.

I happen to have some big green googly eyes in my stash. I thought they went nicely with the plaid DSP.

The eyebrows and smile were clearly hand drawn. :)

My sentiment was computer-generated, and I inked around the edges of the bow tie and added a little shading near the knot with a ProMarker.

The inside of this card is pretty plain because I knew I wanted to write a little longer personal note.

We don't give our grown children birthday gifts per se any longer. I make a card for each one, and then we make a donation to a charity we think they'd like to support.

If you have grown children, what do you do for their birthdays?

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

Butterflies galore...

I love making cards with butterfly die-cuts, so recently I made this card for a friend:

I had some pretty floral printed cardstock and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Its pattern reminded me of a field of wildflowers, so I decided to add a colorful sentiment (computer-generated), along with some die-cut greenery and butterflies.

I tried to incorporate all the CS colors into my sentiment.  My friend is such a kind and caring person, that I thought she would really appreciate this sentiment.

The butterfly on the front of my card came from a set of nine Ellentina butterfly dies.

I added five more of the Ellentina butterfly die-cuts to the inside of my card. If you look closely you can see that I have scored each one down the center so that they can easily fold in half.

Here's a little better look at how they decorate the inside of my card. The two end butterflies each have one wing attached to the left and right sides of my card. They're each a little different, but virtually the same size, so it was easy to glue the wing tips together so that they would be suspended, rainbow fashion, inside the card. They all fold together nicely when the card is closed.

Today, my DH and I went into downtown Minneapolis. We haven't done that in ages! First we went to the Home & Garden show at the convention center, then went to Brit's Pub for lunch. After lunch we went to a "going out of business" sale at our city's biggest Macy's store. I actually found a new winter dress coat for less than $100 that had originally been priced at $325. Yay me! Even my DH found some bargains, so we came home with several bags of goodies.

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

You make me smile...

This card was actually a Valentine, but I think it could be used for other occasions, too.

My little camera started out as a black and white clipart image that I found online. Using my Silhouette software, I traced the image, divided it into layers and cut it out of black, gray and silver mirror cardstock.

It was actually a lot of fun figuring out what color each layer should be and then cutting it out with the Silhouette Cameo.

I fussy-cut a piece of vellum for the camera "lens" and punched out a heart to put on top of it.

Part of my sentiment (You make me...) was computer-generated. The word "smile" is actually some white sparkly alphabet stickers I had in my stash.

Once again, I kept my inside very simple, as this Valentine was for a grandson. Can't have too many hearts for the boys!

Well, the verdict is in on my computer, and it is definitely deceased with no hope for reviving it (unless I want to pay more money than I paid for it in the first place!). That means I will be getting a new laptop - and SOON, I hope.

I've been doing some research online, trying to figure out what will meet my needs and my bank account. Any suggestions? I want something small (12-14 inches) so that it is portable for traveling. I'm also looking for at least 8 GB of RAM and decent resolution (at least 1920 X 1090). If you have a laptop you love, please let me know. I'd appreciate it SO much!

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