Happy Halloween

Here's a really quick update with this year's Halloween cards. The Frankenstein and skeleton are mounted using  a spring that allows them to wobble back and forth when you play with them. They are based on inking the results of a dry embossing folder.


Here are a couple new birthday cards as well. The lily is watercolored tombo marker and the clocks are basic distress ink blending using a blending pad.


As always, click on the image if you like the card to get the directions.

Birthday Definition cards

Here's two more cards. They are the same design but by changing the color choices and adding some glitter I turned the male version into a female version. If you are struggling to make male cards, a lot of times you can do the same thing with a feminine card design.

         

Click on either image if you want to see the detailed directions.

New HoneyPOP Cupcake Card

I found a leftover HoneyPOP cupcake from my previous card and you can't let a cupcake go to waste so I whipped up this new card design using it.


Outside Front

Inside of Opened Card


As always, click on the images for full directions if you want to know more about to make them from my website.

HoneyPOP Happy Birthday Cupcake

Here's a really cool card I made using one of the Inky Antics HoneyPOP birthday sets. I figured out how to mount the honeycomb on the outside using magnets on one side so it can be enjoyed and displayed with the cupcake open but can still go into a regular envelope.

Also I have a special request to make. Inky Antics is having a special contest on Facebook this month, giving away $25 worth of Inky credits to the HoneyPOP card that gets the most likes, so if you have a Facebook account and like the HoneyPOP cards I have made, please hop over there (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Inky-Antics/147604798605457) and like my cards so I can win some more stamps.



As always, click on the image if you are interesting in reading the full directions.

Another Funny Card

Here's another funny card from the same stamp set.



Inside it reads, "The odds of getting any money out of it are about a million to one."

Perfect for someone who likes to play the lottery or to whom you don't normally send a gift.

The really interesting thing on the card is the paper on left hand side. I made that by stamping out all the numbers in different colors to create a paper that was inspired by the balls they use for the actual drawing. I used more stamp pad ink colors on this card doing that than I have ever used on a single card. Can you guess how many? They are all listed on the directions of course - just click on the image. Has anyone ever used more?

Funny Cruise Card

Here is a funny card I made using on a retired Stampin' Up! stamp set.






This version was done with Copic markers. There is another version on the main direction page as well where I used colored pencils and Gamsol (oderless mineral spirits). Just click on the image for the the directions.

The inside of the cards reads, "Will you pick up my mail while I'm gone?" Perfect for that cruise lover in the family.

Leftover Butterflies

Here's a card Mom put together from butterfly leftovers I gave her.


I had stamped out a sheet or two or three of these butterfly images last year when I was planning to make one of these cards:


      

The image turned out to be to big for what I had in mind though and I never got back it. Good to see them put to good use.

Click on any of the cards for directions on that card.

No Stamping Required!

Here are two relatively easy and quick cards that just require you find the right piece of patterned paper and do some color matching. These started life as a sheet of 12x12 scrapbooking paper that I picked up on sale. This one had a repeating pattern of nothing but candle images on it and I cut out the images and turned them into cards like the ones below. The nice thing about this "technique" is that the images are already color matched by the paper designer and you just need to find matching cardstock.

  
As always, click on the images for full directions. There are some additional assembly tips on there that I didn't repeat here.

Two New Cards

Here are the cards I posted this week. The first one is a loon image that I stamped and then colored with Copic marker. The water was done with their airbrush system. The second one is made just using crafting tools and machines. I essentially made my own glitter paper for the flower after I cut it out. Check out the directions by clicking on the image for either one if you want to know how to make them.

Have you frog-otten a birthday?

Here's a card I've been wanting to do for a while that's perfect when you forget someone's birthday.





As always, click on the images for full directions including the marker colors and paper sizes and if you've made similar frog cards, share them in a comment.

Seven Lost Cards

Here are seven Birthday cards with a free floating tag that I started putting up under the challenges section of my website a long time ago but never finished and put online until today. The background for them is under the challenges section which you can get to by clicking here or you click on the card for the instruction sheet and jump over from there.

I've been reorganizing the site a bit and have put up a new subject based that should make it easier to find stuff with the web site at 143 card images and growing. Stop by and check it out and let me know what you think.

Three New "Gift" Cards

Here are three new cards I made to give away as gifts this year to relatives who don't make cards but do send them out on a regular basis. The little birdies are going to my grandmother, since a little birdie used to always tell her stuff when I was little. The cupcake on the birthday card is colored with Copic marker. I showed them to someone and they didn't like it because they thought it was a printed image that had just been cut out and mounted so I guess that was a compliment? Either way I now feel the need to point that its a hand color cupcake image.

These were actually made with cling mount studio g clear sets that Michaels had on an endcap for something like one or two dollars a set earlier this year and the Recollections paper Michaels sells.

As usual, just click on the image if you want to see the instructions sheet on my website.



Happy Holidays

Two new cards

Here's a get well card I posted earlier this week:



Click on the image to get directions from the website if you like it.


Here's a deceptively simple male card I posted today. It's just rubber stamping and paper so it looks pretty easy to modify to just about any occasion but it's the little design choices that make it different. The center paper isn't just blue, it's patterned paper that I stamped on. The photo tabs only hide half of what's underneath and the center paper is smaller, which means all the colors come together in the photo tab and it ties the different elements together physically and visually. The background paper is also textured which helps it be a little more than just a simple paper card.



Again, click on the card for the website page if you want directions or the full screen image.

Washington Apple DSP Birthday Card & Kid Creativity

Here is a birthday card I made today when my daughter said, "Mom lets stamp." (there is glitter on that present in the white spots, but for some reason it didnt scan) So I couldnt say no. She is 3 and 3/4 year old. She made the following:

Two Birthday Cards

Here are two cards I made today for family birthdays this month. The ribbon is crunched because It was put on my scanner funny.

For my Sis-in-law &

for my nephew.

Breast Cancer Month and Halloween Bday

Here are two cards I made today. The first is my card I made for two lovely ladies who have survived breast cancer. Inspired by a card I saw in the SU catalog. The second is my Grandpa's birthday card. Yes he was born on Halloween.

Its hard to tell but the moon, pumpkin and bat are glittery. And the tree has crystal effects on it. sorry its not a better photo.

2 Cards

We just sent this card to my mother-in-law for her birthday, so I wanted to capture it so I can recreate it someday. This card was designed by Julie Alberda, Stampin' Up lady. She's awesome!! She used Stampin' Up papers and stamps and a little diamond brad with a rhinestone. I like the use of three coordinating papers and the mauve and green go well together. Thanks, Julie A!
This is a cute card idea from my Grandma J. She made this card for my son's birthday. I like how simple, yet classy it looks. Thanks, Grandma!

Birthday card

Here is a card I made for my buddy Julie A. It was a lot of fun to make with the sections of different paper. :)

birthday and birds cards

This first one is designed by my Stampin Up demonstrator Julie Alberda. I love it! You can't really tell with the scan but the birds are pink polka-dotted.


This one I made for my friend Julie V's Birthday. The little bird is cut out and on a dimentional.


This one is for my niece Ella. I basically copied this out of the Stampin' Up catalog.


And here is a birthday card I made with the idea of the first card I posted. The cool part is the scalloped edge is made with eight small circles that I punched out and glued on. Thanks for the cool tip Julie A!

Pirate Birthday

This was for an "older" friend's birthday. The red strips are satin ribbon. The pirate skull has a pewter star brad "earring".