A little humor never hurts...

 My sons-in-law have great senses of humor. I enjoy them immensely and love to see the crazy things they come up with. While I can't match their creative comedy, I try, on occasion, to make them smile with my handmade birthday cards. Here's an example of a card I sent to two of them whose birthdays are this month:

When you want a little humor, Tim Holtz's animal images are perfect. I used one of his Crazy Birds on this card and added part of a blue feather to the top of his head.

To create my background, I first printed my sentiment (found on Pinterest) with the computer on an off-white panel, then inked around the edges with a blending brush. This panel was then added to a navy blue card base.

My silly bird was colored with Promarkers, cut out with the matching die, and popped up on foam squares.

Besides his goofy hair, I added some glossy accents to his eyeballs.

I was a little unsure of how to finish off the inside, so I settled for what you see on the right--my own words, also computer-generated.

Do you ever try to make funny cards? I know there is at least one stamp company--Riley and Company--that makes humorous stamps. I don't have any of them, but I am definitely thinking about ordering some in the future. Recommendations for other shops/sites that offer humorous stamps would be much appreciated.

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

Cheryl

Multi-layer die set from In Love Art Shop...

I have long admired the multi-layer die sets that are popular right now, so when the opportunity came from In Love Art Shop to use their Blooming Flower die set, I jumped at the chance. 

In Love Art Shop is offering a 20% discount to all my readers if they use discount code  G-40248.

I am also entering these cards into the Just Us Girls Challenge #583: Layer it up. My crafty online friend Donna alerted me to this fun challenge. You may want to check them out, too, and can do so here.

There are three dies in the set, and I've used them for the yellow, deep yellow and rust-brown pieces of cardstock. To add a little more pizzazz, I backed the layered dies with glitter cardstock.

My sentiment was heat-embossed with gold EP and then popped up on dimensionals.

For this card, I also backed my layered dies with glitter cardstock and added my Blooming Flower square to the top of an A2 card base. Three sequins surround the popped-up sentiment.

I love the look of the glitter sparkling behind the die-cuts.

I also wanted to see how it would look with patterned paper behind the die-cuts. Once again, I liked the look of it. It's a little quicker to make a card this way, yet it still looks pretty impressive.

To add a little sparkle to this card, I placed a gemstone in the center of the flower and three small gemstones beneath my sentiment.

For my last card, I decided to throw caution to the wind and use three completely different colors of cardstock. It gives the die-cut (and the card) a fun, playful look. 

This time, I used a large sentiment die to cut the word "hugs" several times and layer them together. I also added the word "sending" which was computer generated, along with some green enamel dots. I guess I went a little wild with those. :)

These dies were so much fun to use and made quick work of making cards for several different occasions. I brought all but one of these cards to the thrift store, and they were sold almost immediately. I think these layered dies offer a look that is just not available in manufactured cards. If it were available, you'd surely pay a premium price for it. 

 Remember, if you'd like to order this pretty die set,  In Love Art Shop is offering a 20% discount to all my readers if they use discount code  G-40248.

We're looking forward to a nice Mother's Day weekend. We will be going to my daughter's home to eat and spend some time with her and her family. The weather will be cool, but hopefully sunny.

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

Cheryl

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #171: No Patterned Paper (with the option of Anything Goes)...

 

Can you believe it is already May? I'm excited for the warm, summer days ahead. When you live in a state that borders Canada, winters can seem to last forever. 

The first week of the month means the start of another month-long challenge at Let's Craft and Create. I loved this month's challenge of using NO patterned paper. We crafters have so many tools at our disposal--stencils, stamps, ink blending, embossing folders--that it isn't hard to make a card that features no patterned paper.

Here's what I came up with:

This card front was created with an embossing folder from In Love Art Shop. It's called Flower Square, and it is so beautiful! It embosses perfectly with a deep, even impression. If you are interested in purchasing it, you can use this discount code for some extra dollars off: G-40248 

The embossing folder is 5" X 7", but since this is an A2 card, I cut it down to 4 3/16" X 5 5/16".

My Happy Birthday was cut from some heavy pink cardstock and glued in place.

After I had embossed my piece of white cardstock, I used a water brush and some watercolor pencils to paint the floral design. I didn't do any fancy shading, but I did give the pink and blue flowers two coats of color. I also added a little brown to the leaves.

The inside of my card has a simple, stamped sentiment.

Since the embossing folder is 5" X 7", I decided I had to make a card that size, too. This time I embossed a blue piece of cardstock and then swiped the raised parts of the embossed pattern with a white ink pad. I also used a brush to add another layer of white ink to the flowers.

Finally, I added a sentiment that was die-cut from some glitter cardstock.

Since this is a large card, I searched through my birthday stamps and found one that would fill the most space on the inside of my card. I wish it would have been in a little larger font, but I decided to use it anyway.

This embossing folder is really going to be a valuable tool for my cardmaking. I know that I will turn to it often when I need a quick, but impressive, card.

I hope you'll join us at Let's Craft and Create with a card or other project using no patterned paper (or the  anything goes option). There's always a prize up for grabs and the Design Team has some fantastic projects that will get your creative juices flowing.

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

Cheryl

Simple Mother's Day card...

 

I had this die-cut background laying on my craft desk for ages. It was time to use it! I also had the flower in my card parts, and it needed to be used, too. When I saw how well they went together, it was a no-brainer to make a quick Mother's Day card to donate to the thrift store. After adding a little ink to my flower with a blending brush, a silver, glittery enamel dot became my flower center.

My sentiment was heat-embossed onto a vellum strip with silver embossing powder. When I placed the vellum on my die-cut background, the pattern of the background seemed to overpower the sentiment. To remedy this, I cut a second piece of vellum and adhered it underneath my sentiment strip. This did the trick, softening the floral pattern and allowing the sentiment to be read easily.

I created a sentiment on my computer to finish the inside of my card. 

I volunteered today at the thrift store. When I walk in, the first thing I check is how the cards have sold since I was last there. Almost all the cards I had put on display last week (including the one above) had sold, so I was glad I had brought 24 more with me. With the few that were still in my office area, I had enough for another nice display. 

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

Cheryl

Red rose anniversary...

 

I created this card using this intricate background die cut from some navy blue cardstock. It looked so pretty against the white card blank, that I didn't want to add too much more.

I had been given a partial set of stickers that had just this long-stemmed rose and a blossom left. The rose initially had a pink ribbon bow on it, but I swapped that out for this navy blue one.

My sentiment was stamped with an old Fiskars stamp.

I used the remaining rose blossom sticker on the inside. I believe my inside sentiment is an unbranded one.

This card will be donated to the thrift store, along with a stack of others that I have made this week. My crafty friend Lynette (My Stamping Addiction blog) has also donated many beautiful cards to the store. I've noticed that not only do the customers buy our cards, but the staff members also buy them. It's very satisfying to know they are brightening a few lives--the givers and the receivers--and helping people stay connected.

My daughter told me recently that she had seen the name of a reporter for the Bismarck Tribune (North Dakota) with a last name that was the same as my grandmother's maiden name. She said, "Mom, there aren't many people with that name in North Dakota. I bet he's related to us." I decided to look up his email address and send him a little note asking if we could, indeed, be related. It turns out we are! His great grandfather and my great grandfather were brothers who immigrated to North Dakota from Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) in 1907. 

I have also had my DNA analyzed by 23 and Me. They have sent me a list of about 1,500 relatives from all over the world, most of whom I had never heard of before. One of my favorite TV shows is "Finding Your Roots" with Henry Louis Gates on PBS. It is amazing the way they can track down family trees nowadays, and DNA is proving to be an invaluable tool.

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

Cheryl

Cards for children...

Children's birthday cards sell very well at the thrift store, so I made these to donate. I started with a 12" X 12" paper pack meant for scrapbooking. It had some large animal images linked to the alphabet along with some punch-out pieces that gave the animals dimension.

After adding the punched out layers, I also added googly eyes and, of course, a sentiment.

I tried to dress up the inside of this card with a couple of apples and a computer-generated sentiment.

Isn't this iguana fun? 

In this photo you can see some of the layering and how I've popped each layer up on foam squares. 

I didn't have an extra image to add to the inside of this one, but I did go for a punny sentiment.

For this card, I die-cut a sun and added it to my little scene. Once again, the shadows indicate how I've popped the dog's layers up on foam squares.

For the inside of this card, I punched out a couple of small squares, cut them in half diagonally and added them behind each corner of my sentiment.

This crab image came with a few punch-out shells, so I popped them up on the front of my card for a little added interest. I love the crab's googly eyes, don't you?

Here you can see I added some border-punched strips and a couple of shell die-cuts for interest on the inside.

These cards are all approximately 5" X 7". I had to make them this size because of the size of the animal images.  I thought they turned out pretty cute, and they sold almost immediately.

I have made other cards from this paper pack that I haven't shared here on my blog. I didn't think you'd want to see every googly-eyed animal I used on cards. I've only a few pages left in the paper stack, and I'm going to have to get really creative in order to use them. Some are just too large and others have additional images too near to them. Perhaps I can use just their upper bodies and have them peeking out of apertures. I'll have to give that some thought.

Our apricot tree has been blooming now for a full three weeks. That's a very long time for it to hold onto its blossoms. Usually warm weather and wind make them all disappear in little more than a week after they appear, but the calm, cool weather has made a big difference. I've been loving the view out our front window!

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

Cheryl

A fun die from In Love Art Shop...

 

I had so much fun using this sweet flower die. It's from In Love Art Shop where you can use my discount code, G-40248, for 20% off.

For my first card, I cut it several times (it cuts beautifully!!) out of black cardstock and adhered them randomly to my card front.

I heat-embossed a sentiment onto black cardstock and matted that with some silver glitter cardstock.

Final touches included some scattered clear gems and a black ribbon near the fold.

The inside of my card featured a stamped sentiment and a few more gems.

Next, I used the die-cut as a focal point on a couple of cards where I had first adhered some brightly colored cardstock panels. This time, I used white glitter cardstock for the die-cut with some coordinating Nuvo Drops for the flower centers.

Would it also look good cut from beige glitter cardstock and adhered to jewel-toned panels? These color combos were actually my favorite. 

Here's an example of one of the inside sentiments. I used my computer to create most of them.

Finally, I wanted to try coloring a white die-cut with alcohol markers. I loved the way this one turned out, too. It's so bright and cheerful. Here, I've added some gems to the centers of two of the flowers. The sentiment was also die-cut and adhered to my dotted panel.

I really love this die and have a few more ideas on how to use it. Most of these cards will be sold at the thrift store, but I did keep a couple of them for my stash.

Remember, if you're interested in purchasing it at In Love Art Shop, you can use the discount code G-40248 for 20% off.

We had SNOW flurries here today. My poor tulips are shivering and looking around for their winter parkas. Spring always comes in fits and starts in Minnesota. I sure hope it's here to stay soon!

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

Cheryl