Elizabeth's birthday card

This is the other card that I made on Wednesday. It is a birthday card for my niece's 21st birthday. She will be able to listen to bands in clubs where she was not able to go before (legally).

I thought that the cocktail glass was fitting, but I also wanted to remind her to not overdo it. The bear inside the card has a "hangover icepack" on his head.


A month ago, I was not able to hold an X-acto knife. This week, I am able to use one to cut paper.

A month ago, I could not use scissors in my right hand. This week, I can cut paper well enough to do some paper-piecing. I still can't cut shapes that have a lot of inward cuts. But I was able to cut around the bear's belly and the balloons to make them from patterned paper.

I wish my hands didn't shake when they get tired. But they have come a long way from being completely paralyzed 8 months ago.

Supplies used:
Stamps: All stamps by The Cat's Pajamas: A Beary Good Year, Coolvetica, You Say It's Your Birthday
Paper: Stampin Up Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Whisper White; Classic Crest Solar White; patterned paper from DCWV Indian Summer Fall Matstack
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Prismacolor pencils
Other: Oval Nestabilities

Garth's Birthday card

Due to my paralysis, I haven't made any cards since January, except for a couple of cards at my Stampin' Up dealer's house over a month ago. I needed help with those cards since I had to do most things left-handed.

I made two cards on Wednesday. This is one of them: a birthday card for my brother-in-law, Garth. I love the radishes in this patterned paper, and when I saw it I thought of Garth. He enjoys working in his garden.

Supplies used:
Stamps: "So Many Scallops" by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Old Olive and Real Red, Solar White By Classic Crest, Offbeat 6x6 paper pad by Basic Grey
Ink: SU Real Red
Other: SU Scallop paper punch, circle Nestabilities, Cherry Devine Twine

Note cards

My niece will traveling abroad during the spring semester. Her Christmas wish list is short. She only wants money so she spend it on her travels to Brazil.

Bleah. I hate giving money for Christmas. Half the fun of choosing a gift for someone is wrapping it in pretty paper. Wrapping a check is boring! I put her check in a stamped card from my stash. I wasn't even motivated to make her a new card. If I had something Brazilian-themed, I may have been inspired.

I still wanted to give her something she could unwrap. So, I decided to make her a set of "Note" cards. My niece loves music, so I searched through my stamps for music-themed stamps. I settled on 4 designs and made 3 of each. If she has 3 of each, maybe she will use them instead of save them?

Two of the cards have cats on them. My niece isn't into cats. (The poor dear has never experienced the joy of living with one.) But since I like cats I have cat stamps, and I am sure that some of her friends like cats so she can send the cat note cards to them.

They are all one-layer cards. Here are the four different cards:





I put them in a clear box with some envelopes and decorated a belly band with one of my music stamps which I didn't use on the cards.



Stuff used:

Pink note cards:
Stamp: Stampin Up Notable Notes
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White (looks off-white in picture)
Ink: Palette Noir, Stampin Up Pixie Pink
Other: Stencil made with an oval Nestablilties die, sponge

Yellow singing cat cards:
Stamps: Cat Song by Cornish Heritage Farms, sentiment from Studio G
Paper: Stampin Up So Saffron
Ink: Palette Noir, Zig Millennium marker Prismacolor pencil
Other: Acrylic block for drawing the square

Blue guitar cards:
Stamps: Geetar by Stampola, Swirls by Autumn Leaves, More Great Greetings by Stampin Up
Paper: Stampin Up Bashful Blue
Ink: Palette Noir, Versamark, Prismacolor pencil

Lavender sax cards:
Stamps: Blues by Rubber Cottage, sentiment from Studio G
Paper: Stampin Up Almost Amethyst
Ink: Palette Noir, prismacolor pencil
Other: Gold stickls for saxophone, Scor-Pal to score lines

Belly band and box:
Stamp: Cats on Treble Clef by PFY
Paper: computer paper, Papertrey white, Stampin Up Pixie Pink and Almost Amethyst
Other: Nestabilities dies, box from Papertrey, plain envelopes from Staples

Christmas cards

I haven't blogged in almost a month! I guess I have been busy.

Before Thanksgiving, I had my Christmas cards stamped and done. Or, so I thought. When I got them out to sign them this week, I realized I had not stamped the sentiments inside. Taking care of that did not take long though, and all the cards were put in the mail yesterday. I am sending out only 15 Christmas cards this year.



The photo doesn't really show the sparkle and the depth of color that these cards have. The base card is shimmery, as well as the mat behind the tree layer. The tree and sentiment are embossed with silver, and the ribbon adds another silver element with another texture. I had planned on stamping the tree on the shimmery paper, but it didn't make the tree pop. The Handsome Hunter paper was the perfect match to the shimmery green paper. I had a half sheet of the hunter paper left in my stash, which was not enough. My Stampin Up demonstrator was willing to loan me some sheets so I could work on my cards. (I will order more, with my next order!) Her husband was a sweetheart and even delivered it to me at work, since my demonstrator was out of town when I figured out I needed the paper!

While Ed was signing the cards, his comment was that the cards were "kinda pretty". That means that he thinks they are very nice.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Snow Swirled set by StampinUp!
Paper: Stardream Emerald, Curious Metallics Galvanized, and StampinUp Handsome Hunter
Ink: Versamark, embossed with Silver Ranger Super Fine detail embossing powder
Other: Ribbon from Michaels

Halloween 2009 cards

I haven't stamped in a couple of weeks, so I haven't had any new cards to share. Then I realized that I had not shared a picture of the Halloween cards I made to send to family members. (And one card for one Halloween-lovin', card-appreciating friend of mine who oddly enough did not send a Halloween card this year. I hope she is okay.)



I made the cards over a couple of months! Back in August, I had the layout in mind, then I needed to order some card stock for the bases of the cards. Sometimes a card needs a dark background. A dark background can cause a problem when making a card, since something is usually printed inside the card, and that is where the card is signed. So, choices have to be made. A person could cut the background to be the exact size of the finished card and mount it on a folded light-colored card. Or, the card base could be dark and the writing inside is one with a white gel pen. This method works okay when the pen behaves. I have yet to find a white pen that works the first time every time and then doesn't blop and skip! Another workaround for the dark-based card is to glue a light-colored liner inside the card. A final method is to try to find card stock that is dark on one side and light on the other. I can't find card stock like this locally, so I had to mail order mine. A funny thing is that after I placed my order, I was at Michaels craft store and saw pre-folded black cards that had white insides! However, the cards were folded on the long edge, not the short edge, so they wouldn't work for the cards I had in mind. When I make vertically symmetrical card I prefer to have the fold at the top of the card. Actually, I like most of my cards to fold at the top, so the card can sit there looking like it is on a little display easel, and I can feel artistic or something.

Anyway .... I had stamped the main images onto little white squares of card stock, and there they sat until early October. Then I finally sat down and colored them, and I got all the parts cut and assembled. I even mailed them on time earlier this week.

The drippy stuff was made with a punch. I was not able to buy that punch last year, and I was so happy to see it was made again this year. I bought it as soon as I saw it in the store, and lucked out that I could use a coupon on it. I have other plans for the punch too.

Stuff used:
Stamp: Haunting Halloween by Stampin' Up
Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Gable Green, and Tangerine Tango, Core'dinations Black Magic (color= Abracadabra)
Ink: Palette Noir (? either that or Versafine Onxy Black), Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits.
Other: Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch

Card for Adam

My cats are members of a small email group for cats. The cats let the humans post too, if we behave ourselves. One of the humans, Adam, had surgery for a new kidney last week. Since Debby, another human, was able to provide his snail mail address, we can send a card.

I could have sent him one of the get-well cards I have made recently, but I wanted to make Adam a special one that is cat-themed. I don't know what colors Adam likes, so I hope that turquoise is a color that makes him feel good. Tigger and Pooh will be signing this card too, so they are represented on the front of the the card.



I used a 'canvas' background stamp to give the background some 'texure' and make the card look less hospital-white. It reminds me of gauze. I added some faux stitching, since I am sure that Adam had some sewing done on him!

Stuff used:
Stamps: Nurse Sprinkle, Little Sprinkle, "Nightie" alphabet letters all from The Cat's Pajamas; Canvas background by Stampin' Up
Paper: Papertrey Stamper's Select card base, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise, White Gel pen, Prismacolor pencils
Other: Circle Nestabilites dies

Elizabeth's birthday card 2009

My niece's birthday is next week. We will be mailing her this card. There will be a check inside so she will have an excuse to go shopping!



The card turned out a little bit more girly-girl than I had planned. Pink can do that to a card. The dress, hat, and one bag are paper-pieced. I received the city skyline image in a grab bag of stamps, and when I saw it I knew I would use it with the shopper stamp some day. It can be fun to combine stamps from different companies.

Stuff used:
Stamps: "Melanie the Shopper (ATC sized)" by Rubber Romance, "City Skyline Silhouette" by Viva Las VegaStamps, Sentiment by Studio G
Paper: Patterned papers from "Euphoria" 6x6 paper pad by Basic Grey, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Elegant Eggplant, Papertrey Stampers Select for card base
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin' Up Elegant Eggplant, various Prisamcolor pencils, Prismacolor Cold Stone marker
Other: pink self-adhesive blings

TCPTUES70

This week's The Cat's Pajamas challenge is hosted by Susan, who challenged us to make a card using a cake stamp. There are various cake stamps available from The Cat's Pajamas, from birthday cakes to cupcakes. Picking which ones to use was the hard part for me! I loved how Susan combined sets and put a cupcake in the hand of a bear. Amy inspired me too, by using the "It's A Western Thing" set to have the cowboy Poochie shooting cupcakes. So, I decided to combine sets too, and have a cake be met by pirates!



It took me two days to make this card. Arr! I had the layout in my mind, and stamped the layers, then I had to run some errands and didn't get back to it. (But I thought about it while shopping for toiletries at Walmart.) The colors came to me, but things got changed around as I worked on the card. At first, I was thinking the mats would all be blue, but it looked too wimpy. Then I made the mat on the sentiment layer blue and the others were to be chocolate, but it looked too top heavy. Having all chocolate layers looked wrong. I finally swapped out the middle mat and made it blue. That felt right. I finished the card today.


I didn't go overboard with the layers and colors on this card, since I will be mailing it to my brother-in-law for his birthday next week. I had not come up with a card for him yet, so this challenge was timely.

Stuff used:
Stamps: All by The Cat's Pajamas, "Simon Sees", "Errol", "Yo! Ho! Ho!", "Shiver Me Timbers", (and "Swashbucklin Day" inside card) from the "Arrgh! Piratey set; "Think Cake" from "You Say It's Your Birthday" set; and "Cake no Plate" individual stamp
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar white; Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, and Brocade Blue
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Prismascolor pencils; Prismacolor Cold Stone marker; Stampin' Up Summer Sun (for candles glow), Chocolate Chip ink and Chocolate Chip marker for sentiment inside and signature & date on back of card
Other: Pencil eraser to server as a stamp to make the candles glow

gift card card

A friend of mine from high school has a daughter who is getting married next week. We cannot break away to travel to the wedding, but I do appreciate the invitation. (And I will miss the chance to see my friend, who I haven't seen for years! She moved across the country, and I seldom make it 'home', even though it is 'only' a 10-hour drive.)

This is the card we are sending to them. It is plum and cream, because the invitation was printed on cream paper with plum ink. I am guessing that plum is one of the bride's colors.



I wanted to send the bride and groom a gift of some sort, but not knowing what they need, I decided a gift card may be just what they can use.

The card I made for them holds a gift card. The layout for the card, with the little slot to hold a gift card, was shown to me by my Stampin' Up demonstrator, Pauline. She got the idea from Dawn' Stamping Thoughts, who showed how to make the card via a video demonstration. I changed the dimensions a bit, so that my card fits in an A2 envelope. The LOVE layer is popped up on dimensional dots, and it holds the card closed. The upper flap on the card folds down and tucks behind the LOVE layer.



The Applebee's gift card in the photos is not the card I will be sending to them. I need to run to the grocery store to see if I can find a Target gift card. (I can't run to Target to buy the card, since there is not one here, but there is one near where the bride and groom live. If I can't find the appropriate gift card, they may end up with an Applebee's gift card. ;-) )



Stuff used:

Stamps: LOVE and internal sentiment from old Inkadinkadoo "Wedding" set; Flower from Stampin' Up "Fifth Avenue Floral"
Paper: Classic Crest Neenah Classic Cream, Stampin' Up Pale Plum and Perfect Plum
Ink: Colorbox Frost White with Stampin' Up vanilla embossing powder
Other: Corner rounder punch, Stampin' Up Word Window punch, dimensional dots, red sticky tape

retirement card

My Stampin' Up demonstrator and friend, Pauline, is retiring from her day job, and her retirement party is today. Of course, I had to make her a card.

I used a stamp from one of her favorite stamp sets, "Sketches", which was available for a short time, long ago. She had never purchased it for herself! She knows she can borrow mine any time.



Inside the card, it says "Congratulations, let the relaxation begin (happy retirement)"

Stuff used:
Stamps: Stampin' Up "Sketches", sentiment inside from "Congrats"; outside sentiment from "Kitty Silhouettes" set by Stampendous
Paper: Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Naturals Ivory, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Prismacolor pencils

Let's do lunch card

I made this card mostly just for fun today, but I may give it to my coworker Randy, to share with his wife, Cynthia. Their cat is a picky eater, and sometimes Randy gives me canned cat food that his cat decided was not fit to eat. My cats have become less picky lately, probably because they are happy that I am even feeding them. (Can you say "Diet"?) Last week, Randy brought in some fancy schmancy food made by Sheba. It contained tuna and mussels in a sauce. His cat thought the sauce was okay when it was room temperature, but he left the rest of the food uneaten. I was not sure if Tigger would like it, but both of my boys thought it was a very good treat. They even liked the second half of the can that I gave them the next day. I told Randy the cats rated it "4 paws up". On Monday, Randy handed me another can of the same food. He had told Cynthia that my boys really liked it, so when she saw it in the store when they were shopping, she had to buy it for my cats! She is so funny. She does love animals. She is a vet, but mostly works with farm animals. Many of their pets at home are special needs animals.

Anyway, if I do give it to Randy and Cynthia, I will have the cats "sign" the inside (I have two different cat-sized paw print rubber stamps) and thank them for their snack.



The layout of this card was inspired by the Clean & Simple Stamping blog's "Fall To" Layout #46. Look here and here and here to see samples of the layout. I didn't triple an element in the rectangle, but you can see that I was inspired by how the sentiment was positioned.

I think this sentiment is perfect for this image. The only problem is that it is misspelled! (Let's do lunch. It needs that apostrophe!) 'Tis fine to use with cat images, though, since most cats cannot spell.

Stuff used:
Stamps: "Two cats with fishbowl" and "Lets do lunch" both by Purrs & Pants
Paper: Stampin' Up Naturals Ivory
Ink: Stampin' Up Basic Brown, SU Chocolate Chip marker, Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol
Other: Long rectangle Nestabilities die, to serve as guide for drawing rectangle

Fathers' Day card

I made this card for my dad for Father's Day. Every time I make him a card, I pray that it isn't the last one I make for him. He has not been doing well since December.



I stamped the diamonds in red 4 times, cut them out, and used a Xyron sticker machine so I could stick 2 of the diamonds on the "King for a Day" card over the stamped black diamonds, and use 2 of them as embellishments.

I sponged around the edges of the saffron "card backs" to give them some definition.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Stampin' Up "Card Games", sentiment from long retired "More Great Greetings"
Paper: Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, So Saffron Palette o' Prints (retired)
Ink: Palette Noir, SU So Saffron, Real Red and So Saffron Markers, Prismacolor pencils
Other: Xyron, sponge dauber, corner rounder punch

Mam's birthday card

Ed's mother's birthday is next week. We call her "Mam" which is the Dutch word for mom. I can't call her "Mom", since I already have a mom I call "Mom"! Does it matter that "Mam" is pronounced the same as "mom"? Nope, since I know the name is different!



I thought I had used this set for a birthday card for her a couple of years ago, but when I checked my records, I realized I thought wrong. The set has a windmill stamp too, so I can use it for a birthday card for her next year, and it can have a totally different look.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Stampin' Up Netherlands, Sincere Salutations, Birthday Greetings (inside sentiment)
Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron
Ink: Palette Noir, Prismacolor pencils

anniversary card

I made this card for my parents' wedding anniversary, which will be next week. They have been married for 58 years.



It may be hard to see in the photo, but I pierced holes along the edges of the green layer and in the corners of the flower layer, to mirror the row of dots below the word "congratulations". I kept this card fairly simple. My parents will probably be more excited about the letter I will put in the the card. (Which I will write early next week.)

Stuff used:
Stamps: Stampin' Up "A Flower for All Seasons" and "Congrats"
Paper: Stampin' Up Barely Banana, Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Stampin' Up Basic Brown, Stampin' Up markers in Summer Sun and Mellow Moss, Prismacolor pencils
Other: Design ruler, toad stabber and foam mat for paper piercing

TCPTUES59

This week's TCP Tuesday challenge is hosted by Carole, who provided a sketch for us to follow.

I have a hard time using patterned paper, because getting them to match stamped images and getting them to match colors of ink or pencil does not always work for me. I also don't like cards that look too busy. The layout of the card was begging for patterned paper, so I stepped out of my comfort zone. I do like the way this card turned out.

The card I made will be for my sister and her husband's wedding anniversary, which is next week. My sister quilts, so she may like the 4 different swatches of paper.




Stuff used:
Stamps: The Cat's Pajamas "Birds of a Feather" from the "Hearts & Flowers" set; sentiment from Rubber Cottage
Paper: 4 patterned paper all from BasicGrey's LillyKate 6x6 pad; Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, and Whisper White cardstock
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Prismacolor pencils, Prismacolor Cold Stone marker
Other: Ribbon from Jo Ann, petite circles nestabilities, dimensional foam dots for bird layer

Mother's Day Cards

I finished making 4 Mother's Day cards today. (Actually, I made 5, so that I can keep one in my binder and also share it with my local stamping buddies.) The cards are for our moms and our sisters. (We both have one of each.)

I stamped and colored the roses last night. I cut them out today, then assembled the cards.



The roses are done on shimmery paper. The paper has a coating which works well with watercolor techniques. The layout was inspired by a card I saw on splitcoaststampers, but I made mine simpler, since it is more my style.

I made coordinating envelopes too.




Stuff used:
Stamps: Rose from Stampin' Up's Fifth Avenue Florals set, sentiment from SU's Sketches set
Paper: Curious Iridescent Cryogen White; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Stampin' Up Handsome Hunter, Rose Red, Sage Shadow
Ink: Colorbox Frost white, SU Handome Hunter, SU Rose Red reinker, SU So Saffron Reinker, SU Regal Rose (for rose on envelopes)
Other: Clear embossing powder, Crystal Effects paper glaze (for faux brads), 3/16" paper punch (for faux brads), Fiskars Threading Water border punch, paintbrush

Happy Easter

I made my Easter cards at least a month ago, but I saved posting them until I had mailed them, since one of the cards was being sent to MiniKat, and I wanted her to see it in person before she saw the card here.



I saw the stamp over a year ago in a scrapbook shop in Spokane. I didn't buy it, but I kept thinking about it, and I finally ordered it on-line later.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Bunnies Taking a Peek from Great Impressions, inside sentiment (which says Happy Easter) from Studio G
Paper: Stampin Up Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, Orchid Opulence; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink: Palette Noir, Prismacolor Premier pencils in Lavender, Blue Slate, Pale Sage, Hot Pink, and Sienna brown; Cold Stone Prismacolor marker
Other: Fiskars Threading Water border punch, satin ribbon from Oriental Trading Company

chalk lines card

Last week, Pauline, my Stampin' Up demonstrator (and friend!) showed us a technique called "Chalk Lines". She found the instructions on Dawn's Stamping Thoughts blog. Dawn has a video how to do the technique. We made our cards look like Dawn's card. We all liked it! We wondered how it would look to use different colors than the orange and pink that we used. Pauline challenged us to make "chalk lines" cards using a different color combination. This way, we can all try it and share our results next time. We won't meet again until May, but I was eager to try my own card right away. Here it is:



Totally different look!

Stuff used:
Stamps: Stampin' Up Wanted
Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust
Ink: SU Basic Brown, chalks (brand unknown, I bought them before I started buying SU stuff)
Other: SU Word Window punch, Fiskars star punch, eraser

Skating Poochie

I returned to work today, and confirmed that Tim helped Randy cover for me. So, he deserves a card too. (Even if he did do a couple of odd things which puzzled me. His heart is in the right place, and that scores points with me!)



Since slipping on ice is what caused me to miss work, I thought that Skating Poochie was appropriate.

I used Stamp-a-ma-jig to align Poochie. The sweater was colored with a Prismacolor pencil and Gamsol. I scored two lines at the bottom of card to add some texture. This is a card for a man, so I saw no need for other embellishments. I guess I have been having fun with One Layer Cards.
This card took me less than 10 minutes to create, but that is because I had already created the card in my mind earlier in the day.

Stamps: Wonderful Words from Stampin' Up, Skating Poochie from The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: Papertrey white
Ink: Palette Noir, Prismacolor pencil

SC219

I took another day off from work. Since stamping doesn't hurt my knee, I made a card. I chose to participate in this week's Sketch challenge over at Splitcoaststampers. I will hang onto this card until May, when I will mail it to my nephew for his birthday.



My nephew works and plays with computers. I wanted the card to have a masculine feel, so I used industrial-styled backgrounds. I used gold ink on the circuit board layer. The screws holding the cake layer in place are faux. I made them look like Robertson screws. **( see note below) Needing something else, I stamped a 25 (the age he will be on his next birthday) on a gold oval, and added faux rivets. It reminds me of a serial number plate.

The cake was colored with Prismacolor pencils, dipped in Odorless Mineral Spirits. The cake layer is popped up on dimensional foam dots.

Stuff used:
Stamps: Big Cake, 2, and 5 from You Say It's Your Birthday by The Cat's Pajamas; Circuit Board and Diamond Plate Backgrounders by Cornish Heritage Farms
Paper: Stampin' Up Bordering Blue, Garden Green, Not Quite Navy; Curious Metallics Ice Gold
Ink: Bordering Blue,Versafine Onyx Black, Jet Black Stazon, Encore metallic Gold, Prismacolor Pencils
Other: small square punch, 1/4 circle punch, 3/16 circle punch, oval punch, Dimensionals

** note regarding Robertson screws. If I had a way to make a hexagon, I would have made Allen screws. I have a star-shaped punch, but it is a 5-rayed star, not a 6-rayed star, so I could not make a Torx screw. Nerds, and those who love nerds, will understand all this. Oh, and I did have to use Google to figure out what the square-shaped tip is called. I had a different name for them when I saw they were used to hang some closet shelves that I was hoping to remove. I think we used pliers to remove those screws!