Working on those holiday cards..

These cards were quick and fun to make. I picked out a few jewel-toned papers and dry-embossed them with one of my Christmas embossing folders. Then I stamped and cut a few banner sentiments, stitched squares from silver CS and my focal images from silvery glitter CS.

I added one flat-backed gem in the center (okay, SORT of in the center) of my star and three on the bottom right of my embossed panel.

My sentiment banner was popped up on foam tape.

On the inside of my cards I adhered a mat from the same CS that was used on the front. I stamped my sentiment and then added the negative star cut from my focal image. It worked so perfectly to dress up the inside of my card.

This card came together so well with only a few supplies, and I think it looks quite elegant. I hope you like them, too. If, for some unforeseen reason, I don't get enough cards made by the time I need to mail them, I will come back to this design and make some more of these.

I've been picking kale every few days from my tiny garden. We've been eating it regularly, as my eye doctor says I need to eat more dark, leafy greens for my eye health. I started the kale from seed in March and it's really doing well. The seeds came from Dollar Tree and cost $.25, so I wasn't sure if they'd produce anything. Turns out, they're doing great!

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

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #161: STARS & STRIPES - Anything USA/red, white & blue...

It's time once again for another fun challenge on Let's Craft and Create. This month we're focusing on red, white and blue. It's a great time to make a card that honors a service member. I know some of you even make cards that are offered to the troops to send home to friends and family members. If you're one of those kind people, thank you for doing that! My dad, both of my brothers, my grandfather and almost all of my uncles served in the Military, and I know they would have appreciated some handmade cards to send home.

I decided to make two 4th of July cards to send to my aunts. They get such a kick out of receiving them. They told me they had "never heard of sending 4th of July cards," so I enjoy adding a little fun to their holiday.

Here are my two cards. I started with one white card base, one blue one and two white panel fronts, which I dry-embossed with a stripes embossing folder.

For my first card, I dug out my star dies and some red, white and blue glitter cardstock.

It was a simple matter to organize my stars into a "flourish," laid out diagonally across my front panel.

I love the sparkle on this card. In fact, you can see that I even added some colored flat-backed gems. The flurry of stars and gems reminds me of the fire works displays we watch each year.

My sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink onto red cardstock, heat-embossed with white EP, fussy cut and popped up on foam tape.

On the inside of my card I used a red mat and three glittery blue stars to embellish my stamped sentiment.

For my second card, I used a star-shaped shaker element as my focal point. My entire front panel is popped up to provide room for the sequins in my shaker.

The sentiment was heat-embossed and I added a few blue gems on either side to tie in a little more of the blue.

In this photo you can clearly see the blue card base which also serves as the background of my star shaker.

I love making shaker cards, and I think they are such a nice surprise for the recipient. I hope my aunt likes this one!

I used the same stamped sentiment on this card and randomly adhered a few tiny holographic stars. In person, these little stars reflect the blue of the interior left side of my card base.

That's it for my red, white and blue cards. I hope you'll join in the fun and post your cards on Let's Craft and Create. You can also check out the inspiration from the other amazing Design Team members.

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

Hangin' with my gnomie...

While I don't much care for gnome figurines for the house or garden, I sure do like gnome die-cuts. Here's an unbranded Christmas gnome that I think is super cute.

I love his striped leggings and sleeves, although those die-cut pieces are so tiny, they can be a little tricky to color and assemble.

I embossed my green flag banner with one of the snowflake EFs I have in my Christmas supplies and highlighted each snowflake with a glitter pen. You can't really see the glitter in this photo, but it adds a nice bit of sparkle.

My sentiment was die-cut from foam board, so it has great dimension. The stiffness of the foam board also makes delicate sentiments like this much easier to glue into place.

I popped my gnome up on foam tape to give him a little dimension, too. I've also added some glittery embossing paste to the fur areas on his hat.

I added a tiny bit of shading to his mustache with a gray alcohol marker to give it some definition.

On the inside of my card I've added a mat (from the same DSP as on the front) and stamped a sentiment.

Because the sentiment didn't stamp as evenly as I would have liked, I went over each letter with a glitter pen. This evened it out quite a bit and added some nice sparkle.

I intend to make a few more cards like this when I have some time to cut and fiddle with the gnome die-set. I'll probably use some different papers and maybe add some holly die-cuts, too. I only have about 20 Christmas cards left to make, so I'm definitely ahead of schedule.

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

Seas the day...

This is a fun-fold birthday card that I made for my 15-year-old grandson. Because it has additional folds on the inside of the card, it doesn't fold flat enough to get a good photo--which is why I'm holding onto it in the picture. After cutting and folding my card base (here's where I got the idea), I cut pieces of a lighter blue DSP for my "water and sky" and used a wave stencil to add the blue waves to the water portion. I really love how it turned out.

My little sailboat is a die set that I enhanced with a couple of layers of CS, some Nuvo Drops for the portholes and a little Glossy Accents.

When the card is fully opened, this is what it looks like.

My sister has a fishing net die, and she cut me a few of those to use on this and future cards. I actually used only part of a net die-cut on this one. My seashells and anchor were also die-cut and inked. I added a little piece of twine to the anchor and attached it to the net, as though the anchor had gotten tangled up in the net at some point.

I think my favorite die-cuts on this card are the seagulls. I love how they look when just a tiny bit of inking is done on their wingtips and body.

When adding my "'Seas' the day!" sentiment (computer-generated), I made sure it was directly behind the front sentiment (also from the computer) when the card was closed. I used the area to the left of "'Seas' the day!" to sign our names.

The trickiest part of making this card was to cut the pieces of pale blue DSP to fit onto the multi-shaped areas of the card. It was definitely doable, though, since each of the three panels of the card begins as a normal card base size.

This was such a fun card to make, that I plan to make more like this in the future. I think it's interesting for the recipient to open it up to see how the design on the card front continues to the inside.

I hope you all have a great weekend and are able to enjoy some time outside. I know we will!

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

Graduation card...

My daughter attended a graduation in Bowling Green, OH, last weekend, so I made a card for her to give to the graduating senior.

This card was pretty quick to make with just a few die-cuts and some holographic stars. I love having the ability--with dies or with a cutting machine like the Silhouette Cameo--to quickly pull together a card. We don't always have the luxury of time!

The inside was quick and simple, too, with a mat for added color and a stamped sentiment. I like being able to put part of the sentiment on a banner I can pop up on foam tape. I think it adds a little dimension and interest to the inside.

Next year we will have two grandchildren graduating from high school. I sure hope we're able to attend a "normal" graduation celebration by then. It's always fun to see how happy and proud they are to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

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

Father's Day cards, take four...

I was given these pretty dimensional stickers and thought I should use them. They had such nice, masculine colors, so I thought they'd make a very nice Father's Day card.

As you can see, I simply added a strip of glitter cardstock across the top to add to the wee bit of glitter that is on the shell stickers, and die-cut my computer-generated sentiment.

On the inside of this card, I stamped a simple "Happy Father's Day."

For my second card, I used some DSP with fun words all over it. I highlighted three of the words with fine-point markers, die-cut some arrows to point them out, and added a die-cut sentiment.

I wanted to repeat the highlighted words on the inside, so I printed out an inside sentiment with my computer.












We've had a relaxing day, cleaning out some stored boxes of our grown children's high school and college mementos. We are packing them up to take to them so they can store them in their own homes. And we'll have a little extra storage space for our own "stuff!" Yay!

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

Father's Day cards, take three...

Today's Father's Day cards are really simple, but that's how men like them right? At least that's what I tell myself.

For my two corners on this first card, I punched a small square, cut it in half and then used a small oval die to create the arched  interior. I sort of like the way that looks. I happened to have a couple of bronze metal stars so I added those as well.

 The shoes were die-cut and then inked while they were still in the die. My sentiment was computer generated and popped up on double-sided foam tape.

I made this card the same way, except I used a couple of fancy corner dies for embellishment.

Both cards had a simple, stamped "Happy Father's Day" on the inside. Once again these were made for the thrift shop.

I thought I should quit making cards as we get ready to leave on our trip, but I couldn't help myself. I actually made two cards today. I'll share them with you later after I have a chance to photograph them.

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

Cheryl