Heidi's Cards

Soft and Simple

2012-02-07T09:59:00.001-06:00

There are so many gorgeous papers out there! This one is easily layered with two solid colors picked out from the printed selection.

More Simplicity

2012-02-01T09:44:00.001-06:00

Again, more cards made by easily layering printed and plain paper and adorning with punched circles, hearts and words. You can do it!

Easy-peasy!

2012-01-31T08:28:00.002-06:00

Remember, cards don't have to be complicated to be pretty and sophisticated. This card is simple card stock folded with a layer of a printed pattern paper adhered to the front. The finishing touch is a heart punched out of the base card stock color and you're done! (To make the punched heart have the look of some texture, I did take a background type stamp and stamped it using Versa Mark ink... if you don't know what that is, it is an ink -available at www.stampinupheidi.stampinup.net- that leaves the impression that your paper has a water mark.)

Kentucky Inspiration!

2012-01-26T09:28:00.002-06:00

Here I am in Louisville, Kentucky and ready to make some more cards and do some more paper crafts!

Visit my new business site www.stampinupheidi.stampinup.net! Many of my creations on this "Heidi's Cards" blog are made with Stampin' Up! products and I really gain all my inspiration from being involved with Stampin' Up!

And I am inspired by my new location... living in Kentucky is going to be great!

With Love...

2010-11-06T09:40:00.000-05:00

My husband is a veterinary internal medicine specialist. He can be a huge help to many pets and their owners... but, unfortunately, many of the patients he sees are very sick and his job is just to manage symptoms to help them feel as good as they can until... well, until they pass on.
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I try to supply my husband with handmade sympathy cards to send to his clients. Sometimes he needs more than I can keep up with... but I like to make each one individually. I think each person who is mourning the loss of a beloved pet should get a special card. I know that what my husband writes inside his cards (handmade or not) is the part that makes them special... I just hope that the people who really need the touch of a handmade card get one. (I pray to God that He takes care of that part. I am sure He does.)

Well... Hello there!

2010-11-05T13:14:00.001-05:00

Real Life, as it says on this card... Real life can be pretty hectic. Real life can be stressful. Real life can be more wonderful than words can express.
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I have been still making cards (and scrapbooking here and there). I just have not been posting cards! I know, I know... I have promised in previous posts that "now I am back" and "I promise to post more", but it gets to be, well, real life.
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So here is a card I made to send the boys' school photos in for a family member.
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Real Life. Don't miss it!

Computer Crash

2010-08-20T08:15:00.000-05:00

I had a computer crash (hard drive fried) a while back... I have been making cards and taking photos of them, but have had to replace all my photo software (and still don't have much of that done).
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So, this post is to get me motivated to get that done and get some of the cards I have been making posted! (For all two of you to see! Ha ha!)
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Tune in again soon to see what I have been creating!

New Year, New Post

2010-01-21T08:59:00.002-06:00

It's Been a While... Again!

2009-09-01T10:26:00.002-05:00

As I am getting used to my new schedule with both boys at school this year, I am finding so many things to do! I am not bored at all! But... I have not been blogging, you might say. Well, I have been making cards, though.

This is a card I made to include in a friend's birthday present. (I made her about 5 cards to use in a gift pack of stationery.) All of you who are familiar with Stampin' Up! colors... this photo shows a little more "red" than Close to Cocoa really is... but I think you get the idea, right?

All Thanks To You

2009-08-06T15:19:00.002-05:00

This shows the card I made 12 of to send as "thank yous" for my son's birthday. Love that graphic Stampin' Up! set.

Hi There!

2009-07-19T21:39:00.002-05:00

See HERE. (Click to read where I am at this week.)

Scraps Used!

2009-07-10T17:29:00.001-05:00

Inspired by having a ton of scraps... and by my friend, Jaimie! (She could and should start her own blog!)

Two-for-One

2009-07-09T13:56:00.002-05:00

The above photo is a card I made for my brother-in-law and his wife for their anniversary. I really like the Stampin' Up! set called "Fifth Avenue Floral" and used it here with some watercolor pencils to give it dimension.

The above card is a blank notecard I made. I have used my scalloped edge punch for a lot of cards and think it adds a nice touch.

Another One For My Man

2009-07-01T12:14:00.003-05:00

Hubby's birthday fell on Father's Day... so he got the works when it came to cards on this day. This is the Father's Day card I made for him. Sorry... the color on this photo is not the best... the greens I used were more olive-colored and the darker color background on the text is more chocolate than appears here. Anyway... you get the idea: we are blessed to have him as a husband and father and we wished him Happy Father's day this way.

For My Man

2009-06-26T19:01:00.001-05:00

He's a golfer... and I love him! Here is the card I made for him for his birthday. Simple and manly, I guess.

Sunday Sketch and Stamp - Challenge # 5

2009-06-24T16:50:00.004-05:00

Hi! I am BRAND new to trying this... but thought I would give it a go!

I was directed over to Sunday Sketch and Stamp by my friend, Barb at Made For Keeps. They give you a sketch and you need to create a card using the sketch as your starting point.

Below shows the sketch and my creation! Be sure to let me know what you think!

This card will be for my friend, Sharon, on her birthday. (It is coming up! I don't think she checks out my blog, so the surprise will not be ruined... I hope!)

Simple Design

2009-06-23T08:08:00.002-05:00

I have never been good at combining colors so I rely on my color wheel to help me out all of the time. I thought this turned out to be a calm combination of colors that did not turn out too bad for a sympathy card.

Have I Shared This One Yet? Ha ha!

2009-06-21T12:16:00.002-05:00

Summer vacation arrived here a couple of weeks ago or so for my boys... they are keeping me very busy, to say the least... but I miss blogging. We will see if I get any computer time worked into my schedule to go along with card-making time.

Here is one in a group I made for my husband and his clients at work. He has shared that a couple of clients have appreciated the hand made cards... I just want to share that they are made with love and sympathy for those who receive them.

So Very Hard to See!

2009-05-08T14:32:00.003-05:00

So Very is the Stampin' Up! set that I used here... but in this photo the words are very hard to see! I did end up going over the words with a marker in a slightly darker shade than it stamped out with the "Really Rust" stamp pad... and then this baby card was ready for another teacher who is expecting a baby! Yippee!

Funky New Baby Card

2009-04-28T10:50:00.003-05:00

I wanted to make a yellow (bright yellow!) card to match a gift bag I was using for a new baby present. I took a look at my Stampin' Up! color wheel and it gave the above suggestions. I wasn't sure about it at first, but then thought it turned out kind of funky and, dare I say, hip! (?)
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I am now loving incorporating patterned papers with my stamping... something that had been out of my comfort zone. How do you think I did? :-)

Another New Set

2009-04-26T17:27:00.003-05:00

Inspired by a card my friend made (Hi, Jaimie!) I used another new Stampin' Up! set (Organic Outlines) as soon as I got it delivered to me. I am liking this blue, green, and brown combination, too! Here, this card is used as a "Thinking of You" card, but obviously could be used with a variety of sayings.

Happy Punch Time

2009-04-14T07:50:00.002-05:00

These cards were used for sympathy cards, but the outsides are pretty generic to be used for about anything. I was excited to use a "new" punch and churned these two cards out right away.

(I called the punch "new" as it was new to me, but a retired punch from Stampin' Up! that one of my Stampin' Up! demonstrators found for me to complete me having the stamp set that matched. Did that long, long sentence make sense? Ha ha!!!)

Baby Card # 2

2009-04-09T14:09:00.002-05:00

We had to make 28 cards (14 each of 2 styles) for the card swap I mentioned in the previous post. This is my other selection made for a "new baby boy" card.

Here's a little sumthin'...

2009-04-08T13:45:00.004-05:00

Hi! Hopefully I am black to this blog for a while!

My husband has "commissioned" me to make sympathy cards for him to send to his clients (unfortunately when he gets many of his doggy and kitty patients, they are quite ill). Well, I am not starting off with one of those... but know that they are on their way!

Rather, I am posting a photo of a card I made for a card swap I participated in. The category I got was "baby boy." So, what do you think?

Good-bye... for a while...

2009-03-08T15:58:00.003-05:00

I have really loved blogging.

What I have really enjoyed most is the people I have met through my blogs. What a wonderful bunch! I really cannot think of words to describe how great that has been.

And I really don't come up with the words, photo excitement, cards to share, and posts as easily as I have before... life changes and things move along. My focus is turning a couple of other places now...

Perhaps I will find a passion for all of this again... but for now: a break.

I wish you all peace and happiness... and those words are from my heart.

Fun... but some work!

2009-03-04T10:49:00.003-06:00

Stitching doen by hand after mapping out stitch placement with a template. Fun... but it did take a while... the results are very cool nontheless.

Birthday Card For My Mom

2009-01-29T16:58:00.001-06:00

I know I couldn't make a card beautiful enough to be as beautiful as my mom is... but this is what I sent her this year.

Birthday Sparkle

2009-01-19T11:24:00.002-06:00

A birthday card made recently for my friend's little girl's birthday... fun with glittery paper and glitter added to the stamped image!

Thank You for the Fun!

2009-01-05T11:08:00.003-06:00

Okay... the color on these two photos turned out a little bit different... but the card stock used in both is the same. The bottom photo is the one that looks most accurate to what they were color-wise.

These are the thank you notes I sent out to my Bigger, Little Man's friends for his birthday party. I just thought it would be cool to share with the families the fun time we had at the party. (I had to do two versions, unfortunately, due to the fact that I did not have all the boys all in one photo at one time. The unfortunate reason being that one little boy got sick and had to leave and the other one showed up later.)

Anyway... I can never figure out what colors work best with that sage shadow (per Stampin' Up!) green color, so I therefore never use it. I thought I would challenge myself and use it for these cards... grabbed the handy-dandy color wheel (also from Stampin' Up!) and wah-lah!

Now, can you guess what two little boys in the photos are my two guys? (This is the only time I have shown their faces!) Also... I sent out completely different versions of thank you's for family... and I had a good time incorporating the photos into the cards.

Hello!

2008-12-29T13:43:00.001-06:00

I am pretty sick today (don't ask... you don't want to know)... so I am just here to quickly tell you that I will hopefully be back to posting on all my blogs again soon.
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Peace wished to all of you for the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T08:48:00.001-06:00

Matthew 2:6
"O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah,
for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel."

(Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times."

2 Samuel 5:2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, "You will shepherd mt people Israel, and you will become their ruler.)

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Luke 3:15-16
Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am - so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

Acts 4:11-12
For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, "The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone." There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.

(Psalm 118:22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.)

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Romans 15:13
So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Punches Make This One

2008-12-03T21:33:00.002-06:00

Maybe not the best photo here... but I think you can see the highlight of this card... the punches.

The main image is a stamp backed with a background stamp... layered/matted with coordinating colors. The sentiment is stamped on the side. The bottom border is a strip of paper the same color as the base of the card with average, notebook hole size punches glued on top. Elegant and easy.

For My Nephew

2008-12-02T09:26:00.004-06:00

My nephew was confirmed this fall... I made this gift bag to put his present in. (We gave him a cool flashlight that has a verse from the book of John on it... I don't remember the verse, unfotunately, but it was about Jesus being the light of the world.) The card... well, I admit that at first I went to look for a card at the store! But I found nothing suitable enough for me... funny, huh? So this is what I came up with... we think it is just great and something definitely worth celebrating that my nephew confirmed his faith in Jesus Christ at his program at his church.

The absolute BEST part of this whole deal? (Well, besides the life forever with God?) My nephew called me on the phone to thank me for the gift. That was awesome! He's a good guy.

P.S. Thanks go out to Jaimie, my Stampin' Up! consultant, for the introduction to this gift bag pattern!

Variations on a Theme

2008-11-29T10:17:00.002-06:00

Just a few cards that I made for church... my Hope Stampers group that I have mentioned here several times. (We make cards used to send to people on our church's prayer list.)

I have to admit that this group is a fun one for me to be a part of. I love paper crafts and making pretty cards. It is an easy ministy to take part of... and, yes, we don't make nearly the number of cards we need for the entire prayer list and they fill in the need with store bought cards... and that those cards are just as good... well, I just want to say that I try to put my heart into making the cards that I do contribute. I consider it a part of how I worship... a part of how I can include God in on my everyday life.

And I guess I am including these thoughts here to say that God can be as close to you as the air you breathe. Let Him in, use your gifts for Him, and I will promise you your life will change.

1 Peter 1:8 For you love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

Always Thinking About Our Troops

2008-11-23T20:14:00.002-06:00

Wow! Thanks, Barb!

2008-11-17T12:29:00.003-06:00

So... I have not been the best blog buddy here on my cards blog... and I got this award a while ago from Barb at Made for Keeps!

She is an incredibly talented (and busy!) card maker and artist... and wonderful photographer, too! I am so glad to have happened upon her in the blog world. Visit her blog and see what I am talking about!

I need to pass this award on... but I will have to do it another day. I also have some photos of my recent stuff, just not the time to upload them yet. I promise I will get them up here soon!

Scallops Galore!

2008-10-29T11:10:00.004-05:00

Here are two cards I managed to get done this morning... all Stampin' Up! supplies. I just love the new scallop edge punch! (As you will see when I post a photo of my Christmas cards after Christmas! And as you have seen in a previous post!)
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Also, I wanted to make some "new baby" cards for Hope Stampers at church. (Hope Stampers being the group I am part of at church that makes cards for those on our prayer list.) Usually I make "symapthy" and "thinking of you" cards (which are the majority of the cards we need), but thought this time I would add a couple of these kind of cards for variety.

Another card...

2008-10-22T20:36:00.002-05:00

... for another birthday sometime! (Again, pre-printed, patterened paper for the base. Stamped images on all the layered pieced on top.)

Another New Post!

2008-10-17T14:51:00.003-05:00

Can you believe I am actually posting again so soon?! Ha ha!

This card is in the mail to my sister-in-law right now! She is actually going to get it BEFORE her birthday for a change!

Patterned paper base. Stamped floral images. Happy Birthday greeting cut from some scrapbooking paper.

A Kind of a Glimpse

2008-10-10T12:07:00.002-05:00

These two cards (the way that they are laid out? layed out? which one is it?) provide you with a glimpse into what my Christmas Cards will look like this year! (Love my new scallop punch from Stampin' Up!, too, by the way! Can't you tell?)

Happy Birthday to Music!

2008-10-05T13:20:00.003-05:00

I finally get something to post (it has been a while!) and then I have a not-so-good photo of it!

This is a card I made for my mom to give a friend for his birthday. He is a pianist... and he used to play in Hollywood back in the good old glamor days. (Merrill Sparks) So, I used soome music to start my idea: Chopin's "The Wish"

I don't know the song... just Googled some sheet music for free and came across it. I took the word "wish" from the title to make the brad. The background ornate frame is from scrapbooking paper I had (thanks to my sister-in-law and her Christmas gift to me one year... thanks, Jo!) and the rest is pretty straight forward.

Maybe I will get going again here... I will need to get rockin' on some Christmas cards soon!

Day of My Birth

2008-09-22T09:31:00.001-05:00

Thank you all for your encouraging words on getting better. My Littler, Little Man is better (he got over things pretty quickly)... but, alas, it is my birthday today and I have a cold. Good day to just take it easy anyway, so I will. Back to posting soon!

Break Time

2008-09-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, Littler, Little Man is now sick with tummy flu... and I am not feeling all that hot either. A busy weekend approaches (hubby is already partaking in some of that action today as his dad retires today with a bit of a ceremony at work) so... I am going to lay low for a week or so (not that I have posted much here recently anyway) to try and keep everyone healthy. You all take care! I will be back soon!

I guess today I should have said, "Arrgh! I'm a bit under the weather, me heartys!!! Sit tight while me gets my sails in order and I will be back to share a swig with you once again!"

Okay, okay... Not my best Pirate talk for "Talk Like a Pirate Day." But I tried! (You should have heard me read this aloud.... much better spoken than written!)

Thanks, Barry at Pike Speak, for the holiday reminder!

Here it comes!

2008-09-09T16:36:00.003-05:00

What is coming is a wave of creativity! (It had better hit me before the weekend! Hee hee!)

I have a slew of birthdays just around the bend to make cards for. I will be sure to post my creations soon! (I have not done so for a while... and just wanted you to know not to give up on me yet!)

Let me leave you with this... a postcard I made to help out iPost and her family collecting postcards from around the U.S. (and the world!) with Iowa as it's theme. (Not a great photo of it... I took it quickly before I sent it out in the mail.) I listed Iowa Facts on the other side and was so glad to help them with their quest to get postcards from all 50 states!

More Inspiration

2008-08-12T08:48:00.004-05:00

The above photo shows a card made by my friend, Jaimie. She is also the greatly-mentioned-in-this-blog Stampin' Up! demonstrator that I know. From this card, I came up with the following cards.

My hand is in the photo here to hold the card flat. Otheriwse it would tip over because of the unique front "cover" of the card. (It is smaller than the back of the card... made by cutting off most of the original base and replacing it with a matted/layered piece.)

Here is another version of the same idea... but the flap of the card opens up (as you can see).

Sweet Stamp Set

2008-07-31T08:23:00.003-05:00

Sweet in its design... and sweet for its price! I got it on a used stamp sale for more than half the price. Gotta like that!
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Made this with dye ink so that I could try out some old Heat 'n' Stick powder I had buried in amongst my glitters, re-inkers, and flocking. It did not work the best, but I kind of liked the antiqued effect I got with the leafing only sticking in certain areas. (Maybe you can see the leafing better by clicking on the image to "embiggen" it. ("Embiggen" is a term I adopted from Carmi.)
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My mom and pop should soon recognize this card (sent them a note in it!)
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Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Post for Today...

2008-07-28T14:50:00.002-05:00

This is one I put together for my stamping group at church.

This one was for my niece for her birthday. I liked having fun with this glistening zebra print. I am almost out of it now. It is one of those papers that I got 1 sheet of and now wish I had gotten 20... oh well!!!

Variation

2008-07-25T14:39:00.001-05:00

Variation on the color from THIS CARD.

My Pop's Birthday

2008-07-21T14:59:00.002-05:00

The main stamp sets used for this card were "Mark the Date" and "Simple Shapes" from Stampin' Up!

So Very...

2008-07-20T08:11:00.002-05:00

... nice of a stamp set!
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I started this card with the ribbon (the white with blue polka dotted strip you see on the card). My mom and pop gave me some ribbon... so I was determined to use it in a thank you card to them. So, what you see is what I came up with. Also, I am having fun with my new scallop circle punch from Stampin' Up! (Heard they are coming out with a scallop border punch soon, too! Excited about that!)

For the New Baby

2008-07-09T22:44:00.001-05:00

Got to give this one to our new niece! She is a sweetie!!!

Time Out

2008-07-02T08:39:00.001-05:00

Have a fun Fourth of July!

One for the Future

2008-06-28T15:26:00.001-05:00

Here is a card I made for someone's wedding... but then the wedding did not happen. Oh well...

Cool idea...

2008-06-27T08:23:00.004-05:00

Was so excited about this new fold that I learned from Jaimie (thanks once again, girl!!!) that I just had to give it a go! It's a clever idea!
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So, she had a card made at one of our Stampers' 10 get togethers with this type of fold. I got my new stamps from my last order and ta-daa! Another Stampin' Up! success story! ;-)

For the Men

2008-06-18T08:39:00.002-05:00

Above is the card I made for my husband for Father's Day. I got the layout and text idea from a card I saw somewhere on the Splitcoast Stampers website. I do not remember where... I just popped "Fore!" into their little search button and found it. ("Fore!" is the name of the Stampin' Up! stamp set that I have... hubby loves golf!)
I derived these two cards from the first one. I used the one on the left for my pop. Hubby ended up buying one for his dad. He likes to find funny ones at the store usually for his family... and that is fine. I am more gushy in my cards, I guess... especially for my parents. I love 'em so much!

Birthday Fun

2008-06-10T10:26:00.002-05:00

Made this one for my sister-in-law and three others like it using different color combinations for friends... I had fun adapting a scrapbooking layout I saw on the cover of a magazine for this card. Finally gave them all away so that I could now post this photo!

Happy summer!

Before and After 4

2008-05-23T13:28:00.002-05:00

Just a simple strip of paper and two purple staples to add just a little more to this card.

I didn't realize...

2008-05-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

I recently added a feature to this blog in the column at the right that has a slideshow of cards that I have posted here. Well, when I looked a couple of them up, I realized that I had not included them on the blog in the past after all. So, here they are.
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The top one is a Christmas card made long ago. I cannot remember how many I made that year this way, but I am sure that the coloring of the images took some time. (Maybe that was back when I was only making about 60 cards or so for the holidays! :-) I do remember that I was tickled to get the corner punch that made the cute frame and so then I found the rest to fit with it for the card.
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The bottom card, I believe, was one I made for my in-laws for their anniversary. I am going to label it as a "blank" card on the blog... mainly because it could be used for many purposes. I just love that tree stamp when embossed in gold (as seen here) or silver on a dark background... very dramatic!

Before and After 3

2008-05-22T12:00:00.002-05:00

Still just another post of taking a card one step further... I am sure that there may be something else that could be done. What do you think?

And others done recently...

2008-05-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

Before and After 2

2008-05-19T17:38:00.002-05:00

This top image is how it was left...
... and this shows that I added a simple layering piece and one more stamped image to spruce it up a bit.

Before and After

2008-05-18T19:14:00.002-05:00

So... the last time at Hope Stampers (the group at my church that stamps cards to send to people on our church's prayer list) there were two wonderful gals who attended who had not been there in a long time (actually, one of them had not been there in a long time - we're talkin' years - and the other was her sister who had never been before). They were only there for the last 40-50 minutes, but still cranked out a number of cards. One of them had some basic things down, but even she herself admitted that they needed some extra little touches to bring them to life. Above shows one of those cards... and below is after I added a little somethin' somethin'.
I have more samples of these coming soon in more posts. What other ideas might you have?

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T16:38:00.002-05:00

Here is the card I made to send special moms I know to wish them Happy Mother's Day. (I can post it now because they should have theirs by now.)

I really enjoyed the colors with this card. I based them off of the accent ribbon that I used (on sale from Michaels!!!) The glitter (from Stampin' Up!) added that extra pizzazz!

Things that mothers do are priceless... you cannot put an amount on kissing away boo-boos, hugging a congratulations when they finally write their name, saying good-bye at daycare or with a babysitter when they are crying, driving all over the place to let them have their fun, giving up sleep to help them get theirs... and there are thousands other examples I could put here. Just thought that, along with this being my favorite stamp set, that this "Priceless" theme would work for Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day!

French Curve

2008-05-01T09:14:00.003-05:00

I usually don't post cards that I might yet use sometime, but here is one and it shows something new that I tried... stitching. I know, this is nothing new to everyone, but I thought I would give it a go. I have seen templates you can buy, but I opted to grab my ol' French curve tool, drew my design on the back of the cardstock and plotted my own stitching pattern.

This here is my second attempt. On the first try I got the holes spaced too close together and the cardstock tore. So, on this one I pierced the paper with enough space to get a needle through with the floss without tearing.

I know there are incredible things people do with sewing machines, too. I will need to wait and see if that is something I actually want to invest in. I just can't use my regular sewing machine for this as the paper tends to dirty/jam up a machine. I will have to look into those cheap-ie little craft machines if I want to pursue more stitching.

Thinking of...

2008-04-30T10:41:00.002-05:00

I am thinking of spring. I am anxious to get a pair of shorts on for the rest of the season and summer. As for the card... well, we still think of the people in need of a kind word at our church and make cards for them. This is one that I made the other day. (I am still loving the "Priceless" stamp set by Stampin' Up!)

Another Recycled Creation

2008-04-29T09:29:00.003-05:00

The image of the birds and flowers was taken from an old card... some new embellishments were added and there you have it!

More again soon!

More to come...

2008-04-25T18:54:00.002-05:00

Don't give up on me yet! I have more cards coming... to be posted next week!

Enjoy your weekend!

Hey, Baby!

2008-04-17T14:00:00.002-05:00

New punch used here again... with new stamps... and a new idea for me to use my color wheel to arrive at this color scheme. What do you think about the color combination? I am not sure... but I went with it anyway to make several cards like this for our church stamping group.

New Punch

2008-04-13T11:27:00.003-05:00

I have really learned to like punches recently. It seems when I started scrapbooking... oh, probably 10+ years ago, I really enjoyed adding punched accents to my pages. Then I got away from it because adhering the smaller pieces (smaller punches were more popular then) was a pain.

Along came the Xyron create a sticker (TM) stuff and that was no longer a problem. Then along came easier to use, larger, and more fun shapes in the world of punches.

This card is really not "all that," but it does show that I am trying to incorporate more in my card making... and I am trying to do more things that I have not done before. That way I keep myself fresh and interested.

What has been sitting on the shelf waiting for you to use it? Try it sometime and just enjoy.

Eh...

2008-04-11T10:00:00.002-05:00

I am not totally in love with this one, but I was glad that I tried to do something different with the recycled cards other than just the square, cropped format (as seen in the previous posts here recently). I just really like the Priceless stamp set from Stampin' Up! and pushed myself to use it in conjunction with punchouts of the scene from the recycled card. Ribbon and vellum paper rounded out the idea a bit.

No-tie, Bowtie

2008-04-10T08:39:00.002-05:00

Just a layer of the recycled card and an elegant no-tie bow at the bottom. (The no-tie bow is so clever and I had not heard of it until this past Monday night... you fashion the bow by passing ribbon through two holes punched into the cardstock... back and forth until you get a sweet little bow. Who whudda thunk it?)

Another one for Hope...

2008-04-09T11:10:00.003-05:00

Simple, stamped, layered, recycled... turned out alright, I think! I have a few more cards like this to post... I hope it inspires you to take cards and turn them around!

Now I have to get started on a few birthday cards and Mother's Day cards... so that should be good for a few more posts!

Recycled

2008-04-08T09:20:00.003-05:00

A woman who is part of our Hope Stampers** group has been bringing old, unused cards that she collected from her mother-in-law's place (she passed away) and we have been having fun using the cards. We transform them by cropping them or using punches to crop part of the original card... and wah-lah! New cards emerge to use for our ministry!

This one is a basic layering of cardstock and then the scene from the other card. Then I just added a "no-tie" bow and it turned out pretty and cute! (Jaimie, Michaelle said that she couldn't believe that you had not taught us the "no-tie" bow yet at Stampers 10!!! Ha ha!!!)

Anyway... I think it is a great idea to recycle these cards for new life and shaing Jesus' love.

**Hope Stampers is a group of stampers who make cards to use in our caring ministry at church. We make the cards and then another group uses them to send out to those in need of contact this way. I am hoping that if there is not already a group like this at my new church in South Carolina that, perhaps, I could start one there.

Wedding Bells Are...

2008-04-07T12:22:00.004-05:00

Well, the wedding bells already rang. I was 3 - 4 weeks late getting my husband's cousin the present we had for her and her fiance's wedding. I think they will still appreciate the thought (and hopefully not be too mad that we were late!) and we, of course, wish them the best!

I made this card for them, then... easy to make look glamorous with the fancy, glistening background paper and the shimmery ribbon accent. I stamped the cake image and then highlighted the frosting part with a metallic pen.

The wedding photos were lovely to look at as I finished up making the address label for the box I was sending their gift in. (At least I did not forget altogether! Wish me luck to keep up with everything else over the summer! ;-)

Here it is:

2008-03-31T21:15:00.001-05:00

Here is the card I made using the card from my previous post as inspiration. This card is going to my sister-in-law for her baby shower. It is fun to make something geared towards a little baby girl... I do have one niece already that I get to do "girly" things for once in a while, but with having boys myself, this is still a treat.

Not Mine

2008-03-29T11:18:00.000-05:00

This is one of the cards I made at my Stampers 10 group... I thought it was so cool that I would post it here. Jaimie, my wonderful Stampin' Up! demonstrator and friend, had this card set up for us to make... so all accolades go to her! (When are you starting your blog, Girl?) My next post will show a card that I made derived from the layout of this card. Come back now, ya hear?

Prototype

2008-03-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

I made this card on the way to making the card from the previous post. Then I made about 13 more of the other card to send out to family and friends. :-) And, by the way, I loved these little pre-tied bows. I got them a long time ago (maybe they were even a gift from my mom) and I don't remember where I got them. Hopefully someday I will find some more!

He Is Risen!

2008-03-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

Starting to feel better... finally! Here is one example of the cards I sent out for Easter. Happy Easter!

BLOG BREAK

2008-03-18T09:46:00.000-05:00

Sick, tired, too much going on, stress... Will be back again after our house sells. Take care!

"Green" Card

2008-03-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

Recycled card, that is. Thank you, Sharon, for the lovely Valentine you sent! I turned around and used it to make this "Welcome New Baby" card for my stamping group at church. The front of the card made for a lovely background and I added the stamped part on top. Again... simple.

Birds of a Feather...

2008-03-08T10:44:00.000-06:00

Yeah... the title of this post has really nothing with what I am going to say here... I love birds, but here is about the card.

I took a layout from my trusty Stampin' Up! catalog and idea book. The card really looked nothing like this one... using brighter colors and larger format than what I did here... but I think you can get ideas from anywhere (I am learning this, actually) and here is what I came up with.

The basic idea was a blank cardstock backdrop... next was a textured or textured look layer with an image stamped on it... then the added image in the upper left corner with the raffia accent... and the finishing touch was adding the brads... they really balance out the dark color of the matted feather, don't you think?

Anyway... have fun with what you see everywhere, I guess, as ideas can come from there.

Silvery Simplicity

2008-02-29T11:38:00.000-06:00

Easy layering... silver embossing... simple, yet beautiful stamp... done.

Sympathy

2008-02-28T13:11:00.000-06:00

The Lord heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

Valentine's Day Revisited

2008-02-25T14:14:00.001-06:00

Well... I couldn't show you this card until after I gave it to my dearest husband! (Not that I think he checks out my "card" blog often... or at all. And that is fine.) Anyway... got the idea from a card I saw at Target. Almost bought the card at Target... but then decided to dedicate the time and the love and make a card with my personal touches.
This shows the card all opened up. Basically it is patterned paper adhered to heavy cardstock... with embellishments added. This shows the card with the main features... I used the computer to make the words... I added some small silver hearts to the "My Husband" section... and decorative brads to the "My Friend" page... and a fastener that said "forever" I added to the "My Love" page. (I did not show you those things in a photo here because I had also written personal note to my husband, too, that I did not want to show here... sorry!)
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Anyway... I think you should be able to click on the photo if you want to see it up closer.
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More again soon!

Last of the Scraps

2008-02-19T10:18:00.000-06:00

No, no, no.... I did not get through ALL my scraps when finishing this card. This is just the last one in this series I did of cards-I-made-for-church-using-my-scrap-bin. Simple, easy... I maybe would change some of the colors/where I used the colors in the little stamped image... but overall I think it turned out pretty cute.

Scrap-a-doo!

2008-02-18T12:26:00.000-06:00

Another card made from scraps found... (Sorry, photo not in focus.)

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I found these 4 little hearts in the bottom of the scrap bucket. Where I cut them out from, I have no recollection. I just put them with a couple of background pieces and the card base. Wah-lah! (Jaimie, does this remind you of Michaelle's Kleenex boxes or what?!?! For others who might happen to check out this blog, I will explain... I have a friend who recycles a lot of paper scraps and other items with the inspiration to someday use them in a card. One day she -Michaelle- showed up to our Hope Stampers group with the pretty floral designs cut from leftover Kleenex boxes. We thought, at first, that she was silly... but then saw the remarkable cards she turned out using the bits... it was inspiring... and Michaelle is, too.)

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Let the scraps continue!!!

Hit and Miss

2008-02-17T11:25:00.000-06:00

Perhaps this is the card that "missed" (above). I started with the scrap piece that had the wreath of roses stamped on it. I remember that this was a stamp that my friend had... and I just made a couple of black ink on white paper images of it to use at another time. Well, this was probably easily 6-7 years ago!!! (I really need to learn to throw things away, eh?) Anyway... it was already colored and I tried to do something with it and that is what I got.
Here is the other black ink on white paper image I had of the same stamp (above) and I had already colored that at one time, too. So I paired it up with this cardstock and I think that this result is a little better... a bit like a card I just posted a little bit back, but... oh well!!! Both cards should be alright for my stamping group at church, though.

Lone Star

2008-02-13T10:30:00.000-06:00

I wonder if once a long time ago I made some cards with yellow stars on them... because I ran across this lone star in my bucket of scraps. So, with the simple way I like to do things, this star on craft color cardstock is matted with black and put on the yellow card.

Still more Scrap Mania to come!

Scrap Mania!

2008-02-12T16:03:00.000-06:00

So, I mentioned in the last couple of posts that I would start showing cards that I made by using just scraps. Here is the first one!

The base paper is from church and all of these cards will go towards the Hope Stampers ministry supply. I just used my scraps from home to adorn the cards. (I have 3 HUGE scrap buckets... I think that they are huge... maybe not huge to some people...)

So this card has just some leftover, printed vellum paper (even the scallop edge was already there) as the bottom layer. The next layer is a leftover piece from another card I have posted HERE. And the top layer is a stamped image on a mat piece (both scraps).

Easy stuff!

Hope Stampers

2008-02-10T15:45:00.000-06:00

That is the name of the group at church that I stamp with twice a month... Hope Stampers. I have mentioned before on this blog that we stamp cards to send to people on our church's prayer list. We have some gems of people who join us (although there could be more *smile*) and it is really a good time doing what we like to do... and we get a chance to support fellow members of the church in Jesus' name. Very special.

Here is a card I made the second to last time we met... Jaimie (my regular inspiration) helped me out with the adornment on this card. I had it all done and it needed something... and there came the idea to add the ribbon to this card. Wah-lah!

Not much longer and I will have a bunch of cards to show you made by using just scraps! (Working on a few more to get a few posts out of it!) Later!

Hi!

2008-02-09T11:27:00.000-06:00

This card was made kind of on demand. A friend called to ask me if I would send a card to her daughter's class... and to do it in time to be there for their celebration of the 100th day of school. She said that I did not have to make it or be fancy... that they were mainly interested in getting cards from different places so that they could locate them on a map (kindergarten style). "Of course," she added, "I bet you will make a nice card anyway and she would love that!"

So here is what I came up with... I tried to keep it bright and cheery and this was the first time using this stamp set that I purchased on a used stamp sale.

I don't feel comfortable using such bright colors and if I were to make the card again I might color the smaller images differently... but I think this was alright.

Coming soon... using up that scrap bin!!! Taking my odds and ends bits of paper and putting them to work!

Don't Look, Bro!

2008-02-03T15:57:00.000-06:00

Well... I suppose if you are reading this, my dear brother, then you have seen the above card. Hopefully, you have received it already in the mail for your birthday. I love ya!

Fun with punches! And with my trusty stamp positioner... I don't leave home without it!

For A Friend!

2008-01-27T19:49:00.000-06:00

This card is getting put into the mail tomorrow... so it will be late (my friend's birthday was yesterday). Oh well... Hope she had a happy birthday!

Simple Love

2008-01-26T14:31:00.001-06:00

This one was fun... I usually don't do such frilly colors on a card, but I liked the effect of the chalks.

More Love...

2008-01-24T14:27:00.000-06:00

... for Valentine's Day!!! (Sorry... photo not in focus.)

I heart Valentine's Day!

2008-01-22T13:08:00.000-06:00

I just wish that people would send more snail mail... I love the romance in that hand delivered item with a personalized note inside. I admit that I have gotten worse with sending a handwritten letter since I discovered the ease of e-mail (and realizing how much time it takes nowadays to have a family to manage). So, here is a heart going out to you for Valentine's day... on the ol' blog (*sigh* not in your mailbox)... but this one will go to someone this year.

Just Sent it Today!

2008-01-21T12:30:00.000-06:00

Here is the anniversary card that I made for my in-laws. I guess they had just horrible luck with the weather when they got married. (I forget the specifics... I will have to ask for that story again sometime.) Anyway... I enjoyed making a card of larger proportions. I will have to do that more often!

Update: No, I did not just send it today... Martin Luther King Day... I will gladly send it tomorrow! Happy MLK Day!

Cupid is On the Loose!

2008-01-18T14:40:00.000-06:00

Love is in the air as Valentine's Day arrives! (Well, either love or dollar signs as retailers perpare to cash in on another holiday!) Anyway... it has been cute as my older, little guy is now coming home with little "love" notes from girls at school!!! He is in kindergarten, folks! And he says that he does not want to be in love. (I tell him that that is a good idea!)

So... with love floating about, here is a simple (as I always say) Valentine's card to share. More again soon!

What else?

2008-01-10T10:41:00.000-06:00

I am glad that I am branching out. I used to just stamp cards and layer with other stamped stuff and plain paper. I am glad that I now do more coloring, adding accessories, using glitter, ribbons and the such... Here is a birthday card I already sent to a friend's son (who is one year old now and probably has no opinion), but what else might you have done to jazz this one up? Just always looking for more ideas!

(Drumroll...)

2008-01-09T12:30:00.001-06:00

Here is the birthday card I made for my mom. I think it turned out pretty good... and it was nice to hear from my mom and pop that they thought it was pretty nice, too.

It uses the same folding/cutting/layout method as the thank you card I just posted. The only different accessory I used was sticky tape holding on the glass beads on the diagonal. Those beads are, again, so simple, but add that touch of elegance, don't you think?

Well, I love my mom... LOTS! And while this card maybe was pretty and nice, I am sure that being serenaded over the phone by my two little guys singing the Happy Birthday song was a better birthday surprise than anything!