Popcorn, Anyone?

I had an order for a customer who needed a birthday card for her father. I don't know about you....but I always find 'guy' cards the most difficult. Fortunately, I had just received my order from Paper Pretties, and it included this My Favorite Things stamp set. It made my job a lot easier!

The image was stamped on water colour paper with brown StazOn. I then water coloured the rug, the shirt, pants and popcorn bowl using my stamp pads from Close To My Heart. The television was coloured using my water colour crayons from Stampin' Up. The recliner was paper pieced and the popcorn bowl was popped up using a pop dot.

The sentiment was stamped with some random stamp I had on hand and the 'dad' is a rub-on. I then used two circle punches to punch out the 'dad' create a matte for it.

I used my word window for the brown tabs on either side of the card and the brads are over sized metallic brads from JoAnn Crafts 'essentials' line. The papers were from my scrap bin. Don't you love it when you have the perfect papers in your scrap bin?!

Edited to add: this sketch came from Saturday's sketch callenge over at www.iheart2stamp.com

Inspired by Bugs?!

Audra, if you are here, don't look!

I created this card for my friend Audra's daughter, Brooke. Brooke's first birthday in on March 1st!

This card was created without any stamping....gasp! Yes, it can be done! It is a ladybug...made with card stock, brads, vellum, embossing powder and some dazzling diamonds.

The idea for this card came from my friend, Kristal. She made one similar to it for my son, Noah, for his first birthday. I can't believe that was almost 5 years ago!

I first cut a black circle and a red circle using my coluzzle. I then punched some black circles with my smallest circle punch. One circle was for the head, and the rest were for the back of the ladybug.

Next I cut the vellum wings by hand. I have to say...my original ladybug didn't have the vellum wings...but I have had the unfortunate opportunity to see far more ladybug anatomy than I ever wanted to, lately. We seem to have ladybugs living in our house....somewhere....I don't know where. They were here in the fall....but somehow a few stragglers have survived even through the winter. Every few days, we find a straggler. So, I knew that they have clear wings that fold in on their backs! Yuck...

Anywho, back to my card.

I used a brad to fasten together all of the components of the card, so that the wings can still pivot. I then embossed the head with clear embossing powder, to make it shine. A couple of black brads make some beady looking eyes.

A sprinkle of dazzling diamonds (Stampin' Up) in the centers of the flowers on the vellum, and the lady bug was complete.

The wings separate to reveal the birthday message to little Brooke!

Thank You....a Little Late....

So, here is a pic of the thank you card that I sent out for the kiddies' Christmas gifts. They were actually a little on the late side (just a little....I put them in the mail today....yikes!). So, hopefully no one who will be receiving one is looking at this post.... I had to send a slew of these out. My children are fortunate to have many, many people in their lives who love (and spoil) them.

I love these stamps. The monogram is from Close to My Heart. The little "thanks" stamp is from....hmmmm.....I'll have to get back to you on that one. The little boy and oh-so-cute-little girl were purchased at a stationary store in Old Town Geneva. (I can't wait to visit there again when I go to Geneva in a few weeks!) Once the children were stamped, they were coloured using my Stampin' Up crayons (my new favourite thing!) and then blended with blending pens from Close to My Heart.

The patterned paper is from a scrap stack...the card stock is from one of my local craft stores (A.C. Moore, JoAnn, or Michaels). The ribbon comes from the same place as the card stock.

I used my Stampin' Up ticket corner on the corners of the patterned paper.


This card doesn't actually open; you just flip it over to find a piece of white card stock fastened to it and a hand written message.

Now that I have checked that item off my list...on to the next thing!

More Sympathy Cards

Here are another two sympathy cards. I feel so depressed...posting this many sympathy cards seems so wrong! Check back later for something a little happier! :)

This first card uses patterned paper from a scrap stack. The flowers and brad are from Making Memories. The turn mount is from JoAnn Fabric and Crafts own line of embellishments.

The stamp on the inside of the card is an acrylic stamp from Close to My Heart. The image is stamped in black StazOn.

This second card uses patterned paper from Stampin' Up. The stamp is from A.C. Moore. The ribbon is from Michael's Arts and Crafts. The inside of this card was left blank.

Be sure to check back later! :)

Another Sympathy Card

This is another sympathy card from the order I completed a little while back.

The paper is from Stampin' Up. I used a circle punch to make the window in the front of the card, and the scallop punch to make the frame for the window.

The flower stamp is from Close To My Heart. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up. The ribbon is from Close to My Heart, also.

The sentiment was stamped onto card stock and then punched out using an oval punch. The matte for the sentiment was hand cut.

Watch for more sympathy and wedding cards to come.....

I am a bit behind in the 'thank you' department. I just finished all of my 'thank you' notes from Christmas this afternoon. So, if any of you out there are wondering where the heck your thank you card is, you can rest easy...it is on the way! I took so long with the Christmas 'thank yous' that I was able to thank some people for the kids' Christmas gifts and Bekah's birthday gift on the same card (kind of embarrassing....).

This card is going to my friend, Paula, and her family. We spent New Year's Eve at their house in Canada. It was lots of fun to get the kids (and grown ups!) back together after too long of a hiatus.

These papers come from a scrap stack. The stamp is from Close to My Heart. The flowers are paper (they came in a little glass jar from Target.....love them!) with rhinestone brads for centers.

I hope you like it, Paula!

It's Been a Long Week...

This week was winter break week for Noah's school. So, that means, no school, no extra-curricular activities, and lots of bickering and teasing between my kids!!

I believe it was Wednesday afternoon when I decided I needed to mix things up a bit. We had played games, watched TV, had a play date, done puzzles, so the next thing I came up with was craft time.

I had picked up a kids' crafty mini magazine while in line at the grocery store earlier in the week, so we broke that baby out!

This was one of the projects we completed from the mini mag.

It is an airplane made from card stock. The stand is made from florists' wire, and let me tell you, this IS NOT a sturdy, well made craft. The slightest breeze, or even a sneeze in the next room and the thing goes flying. Although cute, VERY frustrating for all involved. The balance has to be just right.

The next projects were star mobiles. Once again they were made from card stock (thank goodness for my stash!) along with a bit of string. We used my QuicKutz to make the numerous stars we needed. We made one of each of the projects, for each of the kids. Heaven forbid they should have to share! Gasp!

And here is the finished product!

Simple Valentines

My son's kindergarten class all exchanged valentine cards this year. Over in Switzerland, this isn't a day that is widely celebrated....therefore, this is the first year that I have made them for Noah's classmates.

I decided to go with something really simple.... When you are talking about a bunch of five year olds....who knows if they will make it home, or into the garbage!

The design is the result of a trio of heart punches in a variety of sizes, and some simple doodling. C'est tout!

The reverse side of the cards were stamped with 'happy valentine's day' in black StazOn. The stamp came from the dollar bin at Michael's!

Gotta love the dollar bin! :)

Late Night Project

One of my customer deadlines snuck up on me this month.....and as a result I ended up staying up very late putting together this card.

It is an aniversary card....the stamped image is from the Stampin' Up 'Define Your Life' set. It reads 'always: Every minute of every day. Forever, unchanging. At all times; invariably.' It is obviously not specifically designed for an anniversary card....but it is very appropriate, just the same.

The papers are all from the local craft store....the swirl paper is actually left over from the valentines that I made for my son's class (yet to be posted). The stamped heart image is also from Stampin' Up. The white ink is White Daisy from Close to My Heart. The brown ink is StazOn. The inside of the card reads, 'Happy Anniversary'.

Well, gotta run...I hear two kids screaming 'Mommy'!

Did You Know....?

This layout features one of my very favourite pictures ever taken of Noah to date. It is so authentically him. Not all pictures are a true representation of a person....sometimes it is because of a forced expression or some other reason that causes it to look unnatural. This photo is him.

I wanted to do something special with it. I chose this layout because it highlights the photo...everything else is really simple. The journalling is all about things that are little known facts about Noah. Things that he wouldn't remember for himself unless they were documented for him. That is what scrapbooking is all about, right?

The journalling was all done by hand. The photo is matted on simple cardstock. The title was done with rub-ons....gotta love those rub-ons for a speedy title!

All in all, it is a simple but very heart felt page. :)

An Oldie, But Goodie

This card is one that I made a LONG time ago. It got forgotten and the pic has been sitting on my hard drive ever since. I really did like it though....

It uses my self proclaimed favourite colour combo of blue and brown. The stamp on the front is from Stampin' Up. If I remember correctly, the stamp used on the inside is from Close To My Heart...from an acrylic set.

The cardstock is by Bazzil Basics. The ribbons and stickers are old and from my stash...so I really couldn't tell you who makes them.....

I like the finished product, but found this card a bit finicky to make. Fitting all of the pockets, inserts and images into their respective places proved a bit tricky. I am sure if I churn out a few more of them, I'll be an expert in no time! :)

You Bought A What?!

This scrapbook page shows Noah as a little guy....only 2 1/2 years old, riding on this crazy little motorized four wheeler that was a gift for him by Kevin's friend, Justin. Leave it to two men to come home with something like this for a child who is barely more than a baby!

Justin had come for a visit, and he decided that he wanted to get a gift for Noah. So, off to the store went Kevin and Justin. This is what they came back with. I couldn't believe it. I objected, saying that Noah was too small for it, but they promptly pointed out that is was for 'under 3's' and that an adult could walk faster than it actually drove. Sigh... I did make them go back to the store to buy a helmet though!

Noah LOVED his new gift....of course! What kid wouldn't?

We snapped lots of pics during Noah's first ride, and I didn't want to have to do six layouts of the same event. So, this was the layout that I came up with. I was able to incorporate all of the best photos onto one page...mission accomplished.

The layout feels very balanced and symetrical....just the way I like it. I like the clean lines and the feeling of balance that you get when looking at the page.

I may just have to use this sketch again!

Aye, Aye Matey

I have decided that I need to pay tribute to my scrapbooking roots. It wasn't always about card making for me! As a matter of fact, that came much later! While I was looking through my albums for my 'Swiss pages' (see previous post) I found this pirate themed page.

Noah went through quite a pirate phase...although it seems to be tapering off now. I am glad I took the opportunity to document it while it lasted.... Sometimes these moments seem so fleeting.....

Once again, tips for scanning 12x12 scrapbooking pages would be much appreciated!

I had fun creating this pirate ship. I had a little life saver type charm, so that was my starting point. I hand cut a bunch of shapes for the sails and doodled some stitching on them. I used a paper crimper to crimp the paper for the hull of the ship to add some texture. Everything is joined with some raffia-type-wirey-kind-of-stuff. I know....my technical terminology is overwhelming! After that there was a bit of tearing here, and a bit of ink there, and then some hand journalling to finish it off.

This girl is now off to bed to dream of the Swiss countryside......

Just Call Me 'Swiss Miss'

I got one of the biggest surprises of my life today! For Valentine's Day, Kevin booked me a ticket to Geneva to go and visit my friends! I have talked (more than I realized I guess) about how I miss Switzerland now that we are in the USA. Moving here has been a big adjustment for us....

So, I dug out my scrapbooking albums and decided to post some layouts. This layout depicts images of the village in which we lived. Two years of our lives were spent here.....in this tiny village on the out-skirts of Geneva.

It is difficult to make out some of the photos.... If anyone out there has tips on how to scan 12x12 pages on an 81/2x11 scanner, please share! For now, I am stuck photographing my pages. Such a shame!


The village of Bernex has everything a Swiss village should have....bakeries, mountain views, vineyards, a quaint little church, and chalet styled houses.

I just can't wait to get back.....

Dum, Dum, Da Dum

....think wedding music when you read the title.... I am sure it makes a lot more sense now!

A recent card order I completed contained a request for wedding cards. I made a special effort to stay away from pinks and purples...they just conjure up bad wedding visions for me! I remember when Kevin and I got married (1997)...all brides maids at that time seemed to be wearing various shades of pink or purple. Hence the reason that I picked yellow for our brides maids!

In the card below, I stuck with blues and browns...that is one of my recent favourite colour combinations. It is a criss cross card...the tutorial for making them can be found here, at Split Coast Stampers.

The flower stamp on the front and the swirl stamp on the inside are actually big, chunky foam stamps from Making Memories. I stamped the images and then embossed them with clear embossing powder. The second stamp on the inside card...the ring stamp, reads '....and the two become one'. It was purchased at A.C. Moore. A bit of bling for the flower's center, and it was ready to go!



The bride and groom stamp on this card was actually purchased at a stationary shop in Geneva. It was in Old Town....but I couldn't even tell you the name of it any more. If anyone is really interested, leave me a comment and I can find out for you. I think these papers are from Close To My Heart, if my memory serves me correctly.

Once again, I stayed away from pinks and purples. I didn't want anything too feminine, but it still had to look 'wedding-ish'. After all, it was for a wedding! :)

One Layout, Two Looks

I recently had an order for one dozen sympathy cards. Nothing religious, nothing sentimental......my customer wanted something more on the sophisticated side. I worked mainly with earthy tones and subtle patterns so as not to be overwhelming or too 'cheery'.

Below are two pics of cards that I made from the same basic sketch. I tweeked it a bit, but the fundamentals are the same. Each card has a very different look, despite beginning from the same seed of thought.

This card has a very clean and more sophisticated look to it. I used stamp sets from both Close To My Heart and Stampin' Up. Inside the card it reads 'With Deepest Sympathy' which was stamped in brown ink from StazOn. The papers are from Basic Grey.

This card has a more 'earthy' feel to it than the one above. I distressed the edges of the paper and inked some of them as well. These are two techniques you will see me use a lot. I love the distressed look, and I am gradually expanding my repertoire of techniques with that goal in mind.

Stay tuned for more sympathy cards to come....

Another Coffee Card

I had to send a thank you note to my coffee loving friend, Penny. I haven't figured out how to send her the 'real thing', so this was the best I could do.

I love this cute little stamp from 'My Favourite Things'.....as soon as I saw it, Penny came to my mind.

I stamped it, I folded it, I coloured it, et voila!

I hope you like it Penny!

Christmas Cards - Part II

So, here are my remaining Christmas card designs. I know, I know.....it's only two months late! Ughhhh.

I am pretty sure I have posted this type of card before. The center rectangle pivots around to reveal the other side when it is opened. It is quite an impressive design for which I found a tutorial online, here.

This is one of my 'go to' designs...very simple and it always looks good.

This design was one of my favourites. It is a double pocket card. Perfect for holding a photo, gift card, money....leave it to your imagination. In this case, the pockets held a stamped greeting and a photo of my two adorable kiddos.

I don't know what I will do next year....one design or several? I guess I have all year to figure it out! :)

Star Album

This is one of the mini albums that I like to make. The inside pages are 6x6, so the outside cover measures slightly larger.

As you can see from below, it takes a lot of paper to make one of these babies! It is layer after layer, but the finished effect is quite nice, don't you think?!


This album is obviously unfinished, but the intent is that each of the white pages pictured would have a photo and/or journalling on them.

I love that this album can be displayed in a open/standing position on a table for everyone to admire. Much better than stashing it away on a book shelf, isn't it?!

If you want info on how to make or order one of these albums, please leave me a comment. :)

Boy Birthday Cards

I find cards for males the most difficult to make. Little boys are easier then men though. You can always go with cars, planes, reptiles or sports.


The card below was made quite some time ago for my friend's son for his birthday. It is a Z-fold card, which means.....you guessed it......it is folded into a 'Z' shape.






The stamp and ink are from Close To My Heart and the paper is some random pattern that I got as part of a scrap stack at a general craft store.




This next card is of the same variety.....little boy birthday. This one actually went to my nephew in Canada. It is the same paper as above, but it is a traditional open and close card. The stamps are from Stampin' Up.

Well, that is all for now. I will be back later!