Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I made just one St. Paddy's Day card--for my sister.

Once again I used my quilt die (unbranded) to create a focal point.  Because I used dark green cardstock for the "frame" and for all four corners, I decided to ink the edges of the corner pieces with white ink to help delineate them from the frame. I wanted to maintain that quilted look, even in the corners.

My background paper and my shamrock are freebie images from Printable Cuttables. The shamrock is nice because it is two-layered, which makes it sturdy. It was cut out with my Silhouette. Can you see in the picture above that I gave it a good dose of Wink of Stella?

I popped the shamrock up on a piece of double-sided foam tape, and added a green gem for even more sparkle.

My sentiment was computer-generated and cut out with a double-fishtail banner die (unbranded). I popped it up on foam tape, too, and added a couple more gems.

I cut three different sizes of shamrocks, since I wasn't quite sure what size I wanted to use. I added the smallest one to the inside of my card. I've saved the third and largest one for another project (maybe next year's card?). My sentiment here was also computer-generated.

Will you be doing something special for St. Patrick's Day? I'll be going to the grocery store to pick up a corned beef brisket so we can have it along with cabbage, carrots and potatoes for our dinner. That's about as celebratory as we will get. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul will hold St. Patrick's Day parades. We haven't usually attended either one, but who knows? Maybe tomorrow we'll do just that, since the weather is supposed to be very nice.

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

A quilted happy Easter...

I got this quilt die quite a while ago and used it on some Christmas cards in this post.

It was fun to cut several out of coordinating papers and then mix and match them to create quilt patterns. The great part about it is when you cut out several, you get several completed quilt squares to go on an equal number of cards. And that's probably the closest I'll ever come to making an actual quilt!!

My fancy sentiment label is by Spellbinders. I haven't used these dies in ages, and decided it was time to pull them out again.

The pink-patterned cardstock is some I'm trying to use up. I've got so much patterned paper, and I really need to "thin" it out. I'm not sure it works well for this card, but I do think it looks better in person.

For my flower I cut three layers of petals, inked the tips and then added three flat-backed pearls for the center. My leaves came from the same die set, which is one of those unbranded ones you can get on eBay or Amazon.

I added a stamped sentiment on the inside along with a simple pink scalloped trim piece to dress it up a little. The scalloped strip actually looks much better in real life. Not sure why the camera shows it as a different shade of pink.

I've been having fun lately cooking in an Instant Pot (a combination pressure cooker, sauté pan and slow cooker). My daughter gave it to me for my birthday, and I'm quite smitten with it. Last night I made country-style ribs with sauerkraut. The cooking time (under pressure) was 12 minutes! It did need to sit another 20 minutes while the pressure released naturally before I could open it, but it didn't require any watching. And the ribs were tender and delicious! I have a chicken recipe that I want to try next.

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

Simple Easter cards...

I've made about a dozen simple Easter cards to sell at the thrift store where I volunteer. It's actually quite fun to put these together to help produce income for the store. Here are the first six that I completed.

All of the DSP came from the thrift store, and I added die-cuts, flowers and gems, as well as the card bases, from my stash.  All the cards were stamped inside with an Easter sentiment.

Here's a closer look at each of them:

I have another batch of cards like this to share with you--but that's for another day.

We went to a swim meet today in which two of our grandkids competed. They both swam really well, achieving personal bests and some first place awards. It was fun to watch them swim, but it was like a sauna in the pool area. So HOT and HUMID!! We've been to quite a few swim meets, and this was the most tropical one yet!! I felt like they should have had a few fake palm trees and some fancy drinks with umbrellas to complete the experience.

I hope you're having a splendid weekend, wherever you are. Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Li'l chick Easter card...

I made this "li'l chick" Easter card recently, using an assortment of dies. The curvy scalloped edge die is by Spellbinders, the tiny butterfly is a Fiskars punch and the grass and chick (with eggshell) are unbranded dies. My sentiment is a clear stamp from My Sentiments Exactly.

I just love this goofy little chick with the eggshell on his head.

As you can see, I've inked him and the eggshell around the edges to give them a bit more definition.

I probably should have used a beige/light brown ink on the egg shell for a more realistic look. Next time...

I only stamped a sentiment on the inside. In looking at this picture, it seems kind of plain, so I think I'll go back and add a couple of those little butterflies.

When I photograph my cards, it seems I almost always find something I should change or correct.

This card definitely says "SPRING!", and I am so looking forward to warm, balmy breezes and bright sunshine.

It's always exciting to see the first spring flowers poke their tender leaves through the ground. I especially love when my peonies bloom. They're such big, bold, luxurious blooms. I always try to bring a bouquet or two into the house, being careful to remove all the ants first! Peonies have some green scale-like structures that protect the blossoms as they begin to form. These scales have a gland called a nectary along the edges which produce nectar. Ants LOVE this nectar and swarm all over the buds before they open. The ants do some good though, while they are feasting on the nectar--they also devour insects that are attacking the plant.

I've been making some simple Easter cards to sell at the thrift shop. I've made a dozen so far and will share some of them with you soon.

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #135: Anything Goes or Easter...

Once again it's time for the monthly challenge over on Let's Craft and Create. This is such a great challenge because you are given an entire month to enter your Easter or Anything goes project.

This month the design team has created some wonderful cards to inspire you, so be sure to head over to the LCC site for  little look-see.

My card for this challenge is my first Easter card of the season. I decided to try a double gatefold card. I followed the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers with a few little changes. I made my finished card to measure 4" X 6". I also cut my diagonal from the top of the card to 2" from the bottom of each side.

I used the diagonal pieces I cut off each side to make the leaves for my flower.  My double-sided paper added a nice contrast, but I thought the green looked a bit too plain so I decided to add a little dry embossing on each side with a Cuttlebug EF. If you look closely, you'll see that the right side slipped a little when putting it into the Cuttlebug, so it didn't emboss all the way to the bottom. I may try to fix that....or I may not. But I will be more careful and tape my paper to the EF if I make more of these!

I used a pretty border die to "fancify" my sentiment panel. I think it's a nice surprise when the card is opened up.

My belly band was made with a strip of paper, punched with a Fiskars border punch, and the circles are all Sizzix dies. The rest of the dies I used are unbranded.

Now I hope you'll head over to Let's Craft and Create and check out the creations by the rest of the design team. I do hope you'll create something of your own and enter it into this month's challenge. We love seeing your projects and visiting your blogs.

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

Minimalist masculine get well card...

My daughter's father-in-law recently had knee replacement surgery, so I decided to make him a get well card. With a little inspiration from Pinterest, this is what I came up with:

The design is really simple--this is for a guy, after all!

I decided that the sentiment (printed with my computer using the Yellow Daisy font) was going to be the star of the show.

I found this sentiment on Pinterest and it made me laugh, so I decided to use it.

Just a few enamel dots for some minimalist embellishment.

The inside was "minimalist," as well. Just a couple strips of the orange cardstock to frame my sentiment and lots of room for a personal note.

We will be heading to the northern part of the state this weekend to watch our granddaughter play in a basketball tournament.  I'm looking forward to it, as I've not had a chance to see her play yet. It will also be fun to spend a little time with my daughter.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are. Thank you so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

Have a birthday brew...

My SIL likes craft beer (there are so many of them available now!), so I made this card for his birthday.

I just love using this card fold. It adds so much interest, but is so easy to make.

I actually had to trace my bottle from a clipart image, using my Silhouette software. I then made one slightly larger to serve as the shadow. Finally, I used the "knife" tool in the software to cut the very top of the bottle off and use that piece to create a bottle cap, which I cut out of some silver cardstock.

My numbers were cut with 2" number dies. I cut them twice and glued them together to make them sturdier. The labels on the bottles were cut with various dies and then trimmed to fit my bottles.

Did you notice the bottle that says "Perfect!" on its label? That word is actually a stamp. I'm not sure what set it was from, but it was one of the few I had that would fit in such a small space.

I printed this sentiment with my computer and then cut it out with a pierced-edge die.

Can you see the "bubbles" near my sentiment? Those were created with clear Nuvo Crystal Drops.

The sentiment on this bottle (at right) was printed with my computer.

Well, that's it for me today. We did get another 6" of snow, but it's been melting like mad yesterday and today with temperatures well above freezing. I'm loving the balmier air and bright sunshine!

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