Flower Power

Here are some more of the cards that I included in the stationery gift packs that I gave friends and family. I really enjoy this Hero Arts stamp set of flower silhouettes. Those combined with the rainbow stamp pads pretty well for these more modern looking cards.


















I also incorporated some colored staples for the first time in any project. They were fun to use. (I know that I don't use any technique or supply that many cards makers are not going to already know about... but I like to share when I first started doing things.)

Stationery Gifts

These two cards were cards that I included in a gift package of cards that I handed out to family at Christmas, I believe. The adults in our immediate family do not exchange gifts anymore... but I like to give the gals just a little something. So, I make some stationery... wrap up about 5 cards with some raffia and share with moms, sister-in-laws, and really close friends. It is simple enough... and I make simple cards to do them "assembly line" style to get them done quickly. (Poor color on this photo. Sorry... I should have edited it better. The card base is actually the same as the card below. Wow! Amazing how bad this photo looks! Oh well!)


I had gotten this stamp set (who knows when... I don't) and had not used it and not used it... I think I really like the stamps that require some coloring/painting in, but then never get around to using them as much becaue they take time. Well, I finally decided to take the time last year and I think it turned out pretty cute. Also... it is amazing how just layering an image makes it stand out and look like extra special attention was paid to making the card... when it is really quite a simple effect.

---------------

Hope y'all are having a great day!

Miscellaneous

Here again is my favorite "thank you" stamp... used with a basic background in black and matching gold embossing. (I thought that the backgorund ended up looking a bit like a leopard print!)







Here is that ol' zebra print back again (used it here, too... and then I went to look for more of this paper at the store and couldn't find any! Just goes to show you to buy at least 4 sheets of the stuff the first time! :-) Anyway... this was somewhat successfully adapted from an idea I got out of a magazine (maybe it was Scrapbooks etc.??? I don't remember.)












This is another pocket card (the one I give Jaimie, my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, credit for HERE)... for a brand new baby of a friend. If you click this photo to get a closer view of the card, you can see how I used beads on the flap of the card for some detail.

Running Out!

This card is a direct adaptation from a sample in a Stampin' Up! catalog. I just love these colors together.








This is one stamp that I really like and use a lot to make elegant "thank you" notes. The handmade paper is a favorite, too. Someday (I have have all the tools) I hope to make paper myself... just need to find the time.







I am running out of photos from the archives of old cards I have made. I am going to have to get going on making some new cards! (Actually, I am always making cards here and there... I have just been bad lately about getting them done in time so that I remember to take photos of them before I give them out!)

I will be starting my Christmas cards soon (got the paper to make them just Tuesday night) and those will monopolize much of my time until they are done. I have a pattern all picked out and the assembly should be fairly quick to some cards I have made in the past. So, it should not be too bad. (It never REALLY is TOO BAD since it is doing something I love!!!)

More flowers...

More simple constuction... layers... The top card I had fun adding beads to. The second card incorporates a wire accent (I have loved adding wire on cards for years). The last two cards follow a pattern that I like to use a lot... four color squares with an image centering over the top.

I have been scrapbooking a lot lately and have not made many cards. I will have to get "cooking" to make some new ones (and I will be starting my Christmas cards soon) so that I have some more to post here!

Wowser!

Wow! I have done some surfing this morning and there are some IMPRESSIVE blogs/websites out there (of course there are) with people stamping cards all over the place! And the cards they are making are truly works of art. I am going to start adding some of the sites I like to my new link list (see "Inspirational Sites" over to the right) and hope to add more so I can keep stock full of places to visit for ideas!

Lots of the sites have wonderful photography, step-by-step instructions, and graphics galore! Well, you are not going to see any of that here... just my cards. :-)

Here are three I made with one of my favorite Stampin' Up! sets... Watercolor Garden. It seems to always make an elegant card without much effort.

Have a great weekend!

Pretties...

The top card is totally patterned paper oriented. I just added the "HB" and "Happy Birthday" that was stamped... along with a few star brads, this card turned out to be pretty spectacular!

The bottom card was my first attempt at using some metal edged tags. These are the ones that are pre-made for you. It was a little hard to stamp the image onto the tag (slippery), but this did not turn out too badly. Also... more glitter!

A couple more...

I really had fun making these... the top one was a first for me to use a patterened paper that dictated the style of the card. I also liked incorporating ribbon, glitter, and colored staples... all NEW things for me (I tend to simple stamping and layering paper).

The bottom card was made for a friend's daughter who graduated from high school. The flap/pocket style of the card was another idea I got from my Stampin' Up! demonstrator and now use it all of the time!

Pick a card, any card...

Again, not great photos (sorry), but these cards are long gone so I cannot retake pictures of these babies. :-) But I still wanted to share some from my archives...

These are so simple... just some hand torn edges and paper layering. The most "complicated" element is that some of the stamping has been heat embossed. And, boy, was that a neat thing to learn years ago.

Once upon a time (about 10 years ago or more), I worked in a Sir Speedy Printing place. I helped take orders at the front desk and helped with other customer service tasks and some small bindery jobs. I remember taking orders for business cards that would be sent out to be done elsewhere for the thermal heat embossing to make the raised/bumpy print. When I went to a Stampin' Up! party/workshop and learned that you could accomplish a similar feat right at home, I thought this was a big deal! (My how quickly things change... for instance, when I worked at Sir Speedy, Kinko's was hardly THE place to get your printing needs taken care of. It was more just a copy place.)

Anyway... my thoughts for the day. More over at my other blog, of course. Have a great day!

Emblem Card

Not such the great photography with this one... oh well. I liked trying to come up with a different fold here. This particular card was for church again... a "Thinking of You" type of thing, but this style would also make a nice piece of stationery, too.... perhaps with a monogram instead of the emblem-type-stamp.

Fun With Flowers

Just a few made from paper scraps... very simple stamping and layering. Nothing too elaborate with these. And I actually think that I had made these for my "Hope Stampers" group at church. We make the cards that our Care Ministry sends out to people who are in need of a card and some caring words (in the case of sympathy, medical challenges, new members, new babies, weddings, deployed troops, etc.) It is a fun way to serve!

Cards, cards, cards!

The very top card was done at a Stampin' Up! workshop. (I owe a lot of ideas and inspiration to my Stampin' Up! demonstator! Thanks, Jaimie!) I really liked the Pearl Ex powders and had never used them before. I was lucky to find someone at the workshop that wanted to get rid of hers because she did not like using them... so I got some for a steal! I have loved coming back to using them time and again (i.e. the next two cards you see).

The bottom card is one I included in gift packs of stationery that I gave out one Christmas... just a background stamp I picked up at a stamping convention when we lived in Michigan and a simple ribbon made this elegant card.

More goodies...

The top two cards were made at a Stampin' Up! workshop... so I cannot take credit for those ideas... but the next three I made.

The blue card with the morning glory is my version of the card made at the workshop (just above it).

The next card is a little hard to see, but it a Father's Day card that I made for my husband... he likes golf and I rarely use that stamp set unless it is a card for him :-) This card kind of took me a long time. I was flattered when my sister-in-law noted that that card must have taken me a long time to make. (It took me about an hour to get all the things just the way I wanted.)

The bottom one is a pretty simple birthday card I made for a friend's son. Easy... and it was a fun, colorful one to share here.

Have a great day!

Archive...

A lot of the cards I will post here are ones I have done some time ago. I have kept a photo archive of cards for quite a while now.

I try to do a lot of original designs and ideas... but I do "scraplift" ideas from the Stampin' Up! (registered trademark) catalog and other magazines. (The top card in this post is one done at a workshop... so that plan was made by or copied by my friend/Stampin' Up! consultant. The next two cards I did myself. The middle card's photo is not too good... but I will add here that the word "hope" is done in bronze embossing like the emblem shape is.)

New Thingy!

Here I go again... another blog to keep me busy!!! (Hee hee! I REALLY don't need another thing to keep me from my chores and duties... but what are ya gonna do? I am at home and no one to supervise me! ;-)



So, I will post a card here now and then that I am proud of or like. Just another side to how I let out my creativity. Here we go! (And be kind... I am not a super, terrific photographer or anything...)