Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #38

I have another February Christmas Card to show you today. This time I used the Midnight Madness Sketch. This image is from the same Just Rite Stamp Set I showed you yesterday called 'An Old Fashioned Christmas'. Midnight Madness now offers a 'Clean and Simple' option, which is a little more my style, so I eliminated the corner pieces in the sketch, but kept everything else. The paper is DCWV 'The Holiday Collection', the leaves are a Martha Stewart punch, and the bells is a button from JoAnn's. I'm feeling much better today. Thanks for your concern! Have a great day! Amy

A February Christmas Card

Well, my 'little cold' has worsened to an all out severe cold. Because we have to find our own replacement at work when were sick, I just went to work rather than go through the hassle of calling people. Although I didn't think my 'cold' showed at all, but a lot of the customers noticed and felt bad for me. Boo-hoo. Pity party here. I have to work today too, and tomorrow, and Monday...I will drug myself up as best as I can so my cold doesn't show.

Anyway, onto today's card. I used the 2Sketches4You #44 for my card. This is my very first time I played one of their challenges. I'm starting on my February Christmas Cards for SCS Christmas Card Challenge. I know its a tad early, but I don't want the end of the month to come and then I realize I didn't do a single Xmas card that month and I suddenly have to make 5 cards all at once.

I used the JustRite 'Old Fashioned' Xmas Set to make my card, and JoAnn 'Peppermint Forest' paper. I put Liquid Applique on the sock to make it puffy. Here is a close-up:

And here is a full view of the card: The Designer Paper has glitter on the red stripes. Its so pretty in real life.

Have a great day! Amy

Red Heart Challenge

The Caardvark Challenge this month is to make a card that has red and hearts on it. Easy enough, eh? Well, I just purchased this new digital image from Heather Ellis, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to use it.

The designer paper is Riding Hood Red by Stampin Up!. I repeated the design in the paper by using my scalloped circle Nestabilities to cut out a similar shape. I then embossed the white card stock with a hearts embossing folder from Cuttlebug. The main image panel and the sentiment are up on dimensionals. The little hearts are brads. I'm still fighting through my cold. It hasn't progressed any worse yet. Thank goodness. I do have to work this evening and I am dreading going out in these frigid temperatures. Why, oh why, do I live in Wisconsin? UGH! Have a great day! Amy

Using Images for a Different Purpose

Well, I think I have my first cold in a year and half. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Right now its just a slight sore throat with the sniffles. I'm downing the Vitamins, Hot Tea, and 'Air Borne' to keep it from progressing any further. I cannot afford to be sick right now with my busy schedule!

Today I want to show you a Valentine I made that uses a non-Valentine image. This image is a Digital Image from Angel's Landing. In the original image, the bear holds a balloon, but I replaced the balloon with a heart die cut so I could use it for Valentine's Day. Using images for a Different Purpose from which they were originally intended for is a great way to save money. You don't have to buy those holiday stamps that you only use once a year! But, I'm sure the stamp companies don't want to hear that! LOL!

Well, I'm off to drink another cup of hot tea with lemon and honey! Hope your having a better day than I am! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Make Them Laugh!'

Hi and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge. This week's challenge is to make a masculine, humorous card. I don't know about you, but I really struggle making masculine cards and I never seem to have enough of them. So, since the fabulous Dustin Pike is our sponsor this week, and he lots of masculine, humorous images on his blog, I decided we should all make funny cards for the men in our lives. Dustin will also be giving away 3 digis to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

Here is the card I made for the challenge. I used one of Dustin's images, and, with the help of my husband, created the sentiment using the computer. I don't have a single funny bone in my body. The inside of the card reads: 'No more time to hibernate, its time to celebrate! Its your birthday!'

The paper is Stampin Up! 'Parisian Breeze'....the perfect paper for masculine cards! Card stock colors are Bordering Blue and Close to Cocoa. The image was colored with Copic Markers.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! And, make those men laugh! Amy

Just a Couple of Featured Stamper Cards

I have a couple of Featured Stamper Cards to show you today. The first one is for FS153 on SCS when Wee Bee Stampin was the Featured Stamper. You can see her original card HERE. I changed the image, colors, and eliminated one of the panels. My image is from retired Stampin Up! 'Still Life Stems' and the sentiment is from retired Stampin Up! 'Window on the World'. The dragon fly is a brad and the colors are Yo Yo Yellow, and Old Olive. My second card is for FS152 when Ardodd was the Featured Stamper. You can see her original card HERE. I changed the layout and colors, but kept the same image. I put Crystal Effects on the balloons to make them shiny, and added a puff to the birthday hat. The image is by Penny Black.

Have a great day! Amy

Valentine Treat Bags

Every holiday I make little treat bags filled with candy to sell at my local consignment store. I know there are lots of cute packaging ideas available all over the web that are much more extravagant and prettier than this, but, if you have to make a lot of little treat bags, this is as simple as it gets. And its very easy, quick, and inexpensive too!

I start with a little ziploc treat bag that I buy at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts. You can buy a huge box of them for only a few dollars. In fact, I think I've made it through the year of holidays already and STILL haven't used up all my treat bags. Then I fill the bag with candy, and zip it close. Using a simple white card stock scrap, I run it through my Cuttlebug with either the Sizzix Top Note Die or the Spellbinders Scalloped Largest Rectangle. I then score the die cut in half, and staple it shut. I then have to hide the staple, so I wrap a piece of ribbon around it. And the rest, is just 'decorating'.

The first picture shows image from a retired Stampin Up! set called 'From the Heart'. The hearts were cut out of foam with a Cuttlebug Die. The sentiments are from MFT's 'Heart Galore'. The second picture shows more contemporary images. Some are just $1.00 stamps, and the rest are from the same Valentine Set I've been showing you the past few posts from The Cutting Cafe. There really is so much in this set, fabulous sentiments and images, that you really get your money's worth.

The last pictures shows Vintage images from one of my favorite retired Stampin UP! sets that I will never, ever part with: 'Vintage Valentines'. I pull out this darling set every February, and it always brings a smile to my face.
So, if your looking for a quick and easy, yet creative way, to spread the love around this Valentines Day, here you go! Have a great day! Amy

Non-Traditional Valentine Cards

Hello! Every year I make Valentine Cards to sell at my local scrap booking store. And every year, I get some returned to me after the holiday that didn't sell. Then I have to figure out what to do with them if they say 'Happy Valentine's Day' on them. If the holiday is already over, I have no use for them. All I can do is hang on to them for another year and try and sell them again next year. So this year, I made some of my Valentines cards a little more 'generic', so if they don't sell, I can use them for other purposes.

My first 'love card' is a digital image from 'The Cutting Cafe's Valentine set. It uses an image from the same set for the card I posted yesterday. The sentiment on the mailbox reads 'Love Letters Only Please'. Isn't that sweet. I put Stickles on the hearts. The paper is from DCWV 'The Spring Stack'.
My next two cards use a digital image from Heather Ellis's 'Pure Innocence' line. Yes, MFT sells these images as stamps, but Heather has a few available to purchase digitally, which I prefer to work with and that are much more inexpensive than buying the stamps. This card uses the same paper as my first card. And the heart shaped button is from JoAnn's.

And this card the paper is from K & Company "Hopskotch: Girl'. I also used this week's Midnight Madness sketch to make this card.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my Non-Traditional Valentine Cards. Don't worry, I'll still have more traditional Valentine Cards coming soon! Have a great day! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'A Sketch Challenge'

Hello! And welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge. Our sponsor this week is the fabulous 'The Cutting Cafe'. They are giving away THREE sets of digis to one lucky randomly chosen winner. Here is the card I made using 'The Cutting Cafes' Valentine set. Is this a cute image or what?

To make my card, I used Basic Grey Designer Paper 'Lemonade' and added primas, ribbon, a Cuttlebug Heart Die, some brads, and I also put Stickles on the hearts in the image. I love the versatility of this card, because it could be used for an anniversary, wedding, or even Valentines Day.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

The Love Boat

Oh, I'm tired. I spent just about the whole weekend in the car driving to Chicago to see my daughter perform the lead in her college opera. She did a wonderful job as always, but when the school is so far away, every time we go see her, we usually can only spend a couple of hours with her because by the time we get there we have to turn around and go back. It can be so frustrating and long car drives always tire me out.

Anyway, I decided to show you two cards that use the very same retired Stampin Up! set 'Boatloads of Love'. I just love the versatility of this set because it can be used so many different ways: friendship, encouragement, love, baby boy cards, boy cards, nautical-themed cards, etc. etc. etc. The first image shows a friendship card. I actually did this card for an old featured stamper challenge (FS147) on SCS when MRSBoz was the Featured Stamper. I have long since lost the link to her original card. I basically kept the exact same layout, and just added designer paper, changed the colors, and used brads instead of eyelets. I also added the puff of smoke and popped that up on dimensionals. MRSBoz's cards was more clean and simple than mine. Hers had a plain white background, the colors were red, white, and blue, and she had three small eyelets on either side of her sentiment. My second card was made for a SCS sketch challenge that sat on my desktop for weeks because I didn't know what to do with it. I kept seeing the wave as water, and was originally thinking of a fishing card or something, but I couldn't think of what to do with the two circular panels. Finally, when I saw the heart stamps in the 'Boatloads of Love' set, this idea sprang in mind, and I made this card:

I really like it a lot and I think its a fun card for a woman to give her loved one on Valentine's Day since most men don't like overly-mooshy cards.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my boat cards today. Have a great day! Amy

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #36

I did it! Although I'm not proud of my card, it was a difficult sketch for me, I did my very first Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. I've been wanting to participate for awhile now, but with all the other challenges I do, I never got around to it. But I finally took the plunge, and here it is: I used a image from Penny Black's 'Critter Party'. That is a variegated ric rac on the side. Isn't that different? I found it on clearance at JoAnn's. The paper is DCWV 'Nana's Nursery Baby Girl'.

Have a great day! Amy

On a Testosterone High

No, I'm not going through menopause, although I wish I were because my little monthly visitor is becoming a pain in the butt. I just have about three male birthdays this week, and you all know how I LOVE (sarcasm here) to make masculine cards, so I decided to catch up on some old sketch challenges and knock them all out in one day.

The first one, I think I actually like. I used SC 261 from SCS. The paper is called 'Urban Youth" by 'Me and My Big Ideas'. I just love this stack. First of all its a HUGE stack, so you really get your money's worth, and secondly, the paper is just perfect for boys, teens, and even college age like my son. The image is Stampin Up! 'Extreme Dirt Bike' and the sentiment is from MFT's 'The Poppies'. Card Stock Colors are Naturals Ivory, Sahara Sand, Really Rust, Basic Grey and Black. My second card is for a boy that loves horses. I used SC262 from SCS. The image is Stampin Up! 'Bronc Buster'. The paper is from DCWV 'All About Boys'. Card Stock Colors are Creamy Caramel, Naturals Ivory, and Close to Cocoa. The hemp ric rac and boot button are from JoAnn's.

And this card, I really don't like at all, but for some reason a lot of people 'favored' it on SCS. I think people really like ideas for simple cards that they can do themselves quickly and easily, and that's why they favored it. Its so funny to me what cards of mine get 'favored' and what one's don't. Most often, the cards I like the most don't get favored. Probably because they are too complicated. Anyway, I used this week's Sketch Challenge on SCS, the image is Stampin Up! 'On the Fly', and the paper is Stampin UP! 'Parisian Breeze', Close to Cocoa, and Bordering Blue. Well I hope I haven't bored you with all my testosterone filled cards. I know I don't like to look at boring, old, masculine cards, so why should you? LOL! Have a great day! Amy

The Start of a New Year of Christmas Cards!

Yes, I took the plunge again! I joined the 2010 Christmas Card Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. I did it last year too, and was so happy I did. Even though its hard making Christmas Cards throughout the year, it is so much easier than trying to get them all done in November or December! And, I feel I have nicer cards to give out, than if I would have made something quick and simple to easily mass produce. This year I committed to making 5 Christmas Cards a month, that way I'll have about 60 cards at the end of the year...the perfect amount I need! I've already shown you two of my January Christmas Cards (Dustin's Xmas Caroling Dragon, and 'Let it Snow') because they were also Digital Tuesday Challenges, so today I only have 3 cards left to show you.

Because I've been working a lot, I fell behind on my Featured Stamper Challenges on SCS, so I combined my Xmas Card Challenge with the Featured Stamper Challenges. The first card I have to show you is for FS149 when Pam124 was the Featured Stamper. You can see the original card HERE. I changed the papers, and made the sentiment more of a frame, and eliminated the Stickles. My image is from JustRite and the paper is from the DCWV 'The Holiday Collection'. My second card was made for FS151 when one of my favorite stampers, SmilynSteph was the Featured Stamper. You can see her original card HERE. I changed just about everything about this card except the layout. I didn't intend to do that, but it just happened as the card progressed. My image is from Penny Black 'Jolly Follies' and the designer paper is Stampin Up! 'Merry Moments'.

And, occasionally when I am really pressed for time, I just 'case' a Xmas card. This is one I cased from the fabulous Susan Liles. I just loved the layout, so I used it, but changed the papers, colors, and embellies. Sorry, but I don't have a link to her original card. To make my card, I stamped the snowflakes from the MFT set 'Baby Its Cold Outside' onto Kraft paper. The designer paper is from DCWV 'The Holiday Collection'. I paper pieced her coat and stockings with the same paper.

I hope you didn't mind looking at Christmas Cards so soon after Christmas! But maybe, if you saw one you liked, you can save the image into your computer for next years cards! Have a great day! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge "Emboss It!"

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge. This week's challenge is 'Emboss It!'. Simply make a card or project with embossing on it. You can use embossing powders, dry embossing, or both. Whatever you'd like. This week's sponsor is our very own Digital Stamp Oasis. They are offering three digital images to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used the Digital Stamp Oasis image "Suzie Watering Flowers'. I chose to do dry embossing and used my Cuttlebug to create the sentiment. The paper is Basic Grey "Lemonade", and I used lace, ribbon, and primas for embellishments.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Caardvark's Happy New Year Challenge

Hello. Today I have a Caardvark's Challenge Card to show you. Here is the sketch. At first when I saw it, I was intimidated by it. I just thought there was not much I could do with it because it was too set up for you and there was no place for an image. But then I imagined the possibilities of letting the designer paper be the focal point and ......... this is what I came up with! I used the 'Be Mine' DCWV Stack, and "Melon Mambo" Designer Paper. The sentiment is from Just Rite Harmony Classic Oval Stamper. I used the Martha Stewart Lace Border Punch, and an old Heart Punch for the border.

Have a great day! Amy

Journals

Good Morning! And, 10:00 a.m. IS morning to me. The past three days I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. for work. I've never been so tired in my life! It felt so good to sleep in this morning.

Now, onto today's project. Every year I throw a holiday party and I give all the women who come to the party a hand made gift. This year I made notebooks/journals using my Bind-It-All machine. Because of lack of time, I tried to keep my gift as simple as possible, and yet still be able to present a nice gift. The inside pages are just blank copy paper. I wish I had better photographs to show you, but unfortunately because I was working up to the very last minute to finish these, I had to photograph them in the night and I couldn't get good lighting. They are GORGEOUS in real life, because all the paper I used had glitter, texture, or flocking on them. So they are very nice to the touch and have a lot of dimension.

The first one uses textured paper from DCWV 'The Green Stack'. The image is a dollar stamp from Imagenicse that is colored with Copic Markers. I used several different stamps to create the sentiment. This is also DCWV paper from "Nana's Kitchen and is very glittery in real life'. The sentiment is an old retired Stampin Up image that says 'All I have seen has taught me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

Isn't that a beautiful quote? Its so true.
Here's one of my personal favorites because the designer paper is all flocked. Its so soft to the touch. It is from DCWV 'The Main Street' Stack. The sentiment is computer generated and the flowers are covered in glitter. I received them as a gift from on on-line friend, so I don't know where they are from. I used real lace as a border accent.
This paper is glittery and has a slight raise to it. Its from DCWV 'Mod-Retro' Stack. The sentiment is also from that stack and it says 'So That is why Today was the Best Day EVER!'. Isn't that a great quote for the front cover of a journal? To make the hearts, I used a Cuttlebug Die and embossed them with the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.

This paper is absolutely gorgeous in real life. It is covered in glitter and clear embossing powder. It is from DCWV 'Garden Party' Stack. The Butterflies are from Spellbinders, I covered them with a separate piece of Vellum and pearl accents. The sentiment is from Stampin Up!'s 'Flight of the Butterfly' set.

Here is my second personal favorite. The paper is from the 'Old World' Stack from DCWV. I sponged the edges with ink to age it even more. The sentiment is from Queen Kat Designs, and the butterflies are Spellbinders again.

This one looks ugly in the photograph, but trust me, its gorgeous in real life. The brown swirls you see are all flocked! It is also from the 'Main Street' Stack. Its just sumptuous to the touch! The butterflies on this one are from Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss, the sentiment is retired Stampin Up! and I wove a piece of brown ribbon through the lace as an added touch.

My final card uses paper from 'The Old World' DCWV stack and the Spellbinders Edgebilities 'Rose' Die. I finally broke down and bought one! I've wanted it forever. I sponged the edges of this paper too. I used chalk to highlight the die and a pretty lace trim on the side of the notebook. The sentiment is retired Stampin Up!

I hope you've enjoyed looking at all my notebooks. All the DCWV stacks are available at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts. Did you see the brand new Mariposa Line that just came out? Talk about GORGEOUS. I squealed with delight when I walked past it in the store the other day. I had to buy every single pad in every size! Every page is filled with butterflies and glitter. It has a very vintage, romantic, cottagy-look. I can't wait to have some time to play with it.

Have a great day! Amy

Digital Tuesday Challenge "I 'Heart' You"

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge. This week's challenge is to make a Valentine using at least one Digital Image. That sounds easy enough doesn't it? Our sponsor this week is Shirleys 2 Girls and she is giving away one image of the randomly chosen winner's choice!

To make my card, I used ones of Shirleys 2 Girls Valentine images. Isn't it a cutie? I just love the sentiment. I printed the image twice and cut out the elephants and popped them up on dimensionals. Then I covered them with Crystal Effects so they would look shiny. I put pink glitter on the hearts. The designer paper is Basic Grey. In case you can't tell by the photo, the button is actually a heart shape and I also added heart brads on the bottom of the card. Here is a close-up so you can see the dimension, glaze, and glitter.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the challenge site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Another Masculine Card

Happy New Year Everyone! We had a wonderful New Year's Day celebrating with friends at our home. I hope you all had a special day too.

I needed yet another masculine birthday card. I hate making masculine cards because I find them so boring, and I don't like sports, fishing, hunting, or anything else men tend to like (LOL!), but when half the people I know are men, I have no other choice but to make them. LOL! I used the SC258 sketch because I thought the layout was nice and clean for a man's card. The image is from Stampin Up! 'Just Basketball'. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the Really Rust panel to create the texture of a basketball.

Now about my new Living Room. First of all, I absolutely love it. I couldn't be more pleased with my color and furniture choices. I went with the chocolate brown/blue color combo that is all the rage right now. I was afraid to try it and I tend to avoid 'trendy' colors because I don't want my space to be outdated in 5 years, but, I heard a designer say that this color combo has become a classic and is here to stay, so I went for it. I painted the walls a color called 'Urban Nature' by Dutch Boy...its like a steel blue grey, and I bought all new furniture: a love seat that is really the size of my old couch, and a 'chair and a half' that is the size of my old love seat. LOL! When looking for new furniture, I was amazed at how much larger the furniture is now compared to 20 years ago...I don't know if its because our homes are getting larger, or WERE getting larger. LOL! Anyway, the furniture is a Camel-colored chenille, with the blue/chocolate brown accent colors in the pillows. It's overstuffed, and so warm and cozy. I just love it! Now, many of you requested pictures. I would love to do that, but I'm still waiting on a new rug I ordered, and I need to make new drapes. I still have my old drapes up, which are so OUTDATED! Ugh! I plan on making Chocolate Brown satin drapes that are embroidered with blue flowers. The material is sold at JoAnn's and is absolutely gorgeous. Once my drapes are done, and the rug is in, I will post pictures! So, be a little patient, they are coming! LOL!

Have a great day! Amy