Anniversary Card, Cabin Card, and Graduation Gift Card

I have a rather eclectic group of cards to share tonight for different occasions and from different stamp companies.

The first card is for my parents for their 62nd wedding anniversary. Isn't that amazing!! I hope and pray they will celebrate their 65th or even their 70th anniversaries! I don't very often take time to stamp or embellish the inside of my cards but this one I did and I really like how it turned out.

I made the card with Pure Luxury White base weight and layered it with the new Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion (love that color!). I embossed it with a Texturz plate in the Big Shot. I used various nestabilities ovals and labels to create the focal image and the sentiment. The gingham ribbon is also the new Wild Dandelion and comes in the Stamp TV kit "Enjoy the Sunshine."

The second card tonight was made a while back using a stamp set I received from my friend, Kim, over at RaisinBoat stamps. Have you seen their stamps?? Fun, fun, fun! And, if you don't want to commit to your stamp sets for the long haul or don't have storage space for them, Raisin Boat is the answer for you! Their whole concept is built around the "Netflix" idea where you rent stamp sets, use them as much and for as long as you like, and then return them. Or if you rent a set and really love it, you can buy it. There is a monthly low rental fee and you make your list just like you do with your movies so they can send your picks out to you. If this sounds like something you'd like to try, head on over to Raisin Boat and please mention that you heard about them on my blog (it won't get you a discount or any freebies but I'd like them to know that you heard about them from me). 

This card was made with one of their popular sets called, "Pier Happiness."

 And, finally, I have a cute little graduation gift card holder I made for my dearest friend's daughter who graduated from high school this past Friday night. I learned how to make these from a Stampin' Up demo, who got the pattern from someone but I don't have the proper reference to give that person credit. Sorry about that! Please forgive me for not having your information if you are the person who came up with this clever card!

This was a bit hard to photograph because I embossed the sentiment onto the shimmery paper so I kept getting glare from both of them! The mortar board pulls up (it is velcroed shut) and the gift card or money slips into an opening inside. The image is from a Stampin' Up set called "Go, Graduate." 

That's all for tonight! Thanks for stopping by!

Fall, apples and other reflections

The summer passed so quickly this year. I think because we traveled a lot and the kids had a lot of things going on the time just flew by and I didn't really have time to keep up with my poor little blog. I'm hoping I will be able to set aside more time this fall to keep it up to date so check back in the coming weeks to see if I'm here!

We have been having such gorgeous weather the past week that I'm finding it hard to believe it is the middle of September. If the kids weren't back in full swing at school I wouldn't believe that the official start of fall is just around the corner, as in next week! I know this lovely summery weather we've been having isn't going to stay around much longer. Next week the temperatures are predicted to be in the low to mid 60s instead of high 70s and low 80s we've been having. Despite the gorgeous, summery weather we are starting to see some peeks of color in the trees here and that inspires me to make cards with all of the pretty fall colors. The card I'm sharing here today is one of those cards.

The base of the card is Stampin' Up's new In Color Soft Suede and the designer paper is also from Stampin' Up. The dp pack is called Autumn Traditions. The two small layer pieces are SU Ruby Red and More Mustard. I stamped the image, which is from the Signs of Autumn set by Gina K Designs on Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Ivory layering weight paper using Memento Rich Cocoa. I colored the basket and the apples with Koh-i-noor pencils and OMS. It had been a while since I pulled those out and I realized how much I like using the pencils and OMS. They were perfect for getting the look I wanted on the basket and apples. I'm such a coloring addict! Must be all the coloring I did as a child that comes out when I pick up colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc. The ribbon is actually purple, although for some reason it didn't show up as purple very well in the photo. I punched an oval of soft suede and folded it over and put the button on top just for a fun little embellishment. I punched a large oval from soft suede and a small oval from Pure Luxury Soft Sand and stamped the greeting in Rich Cocoa on it. The ovals are adhered to the card with some pretty copper brads from the Stamp TV kit. To put some final polish on the card I used some crystal lacquer on the apples to give them that just shined up, ready to eat look.

A fairly straight forward card to put together but I think it is one of my favorites of the cards I've made recently. The fall colors and the bright, shiny apples just make me feel good.

I hope you are enjoying the fall colors, either in nature where you live or in your card making and you are finding yourself ready for the shiny new apples and orange pumpkins! Thanks for stopping by today. Have a happy day!

I'm Baaack!

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted! Where does the time go? Getting the school year finished and moving on to all of our summer activities has kept me busy and without much time to make cards. I hate that! I really miss having my creative time. We made our annual trip to Florida last week (June 29-July3) and the much anticipated fun in the sun did not happen. It rained the entire week, and I don't mean just sprinkles. One of the days we were there Tampa broke their one-day rainfall record which was set back in 1953 or something like that! We have been going to Florida for a week in June for years and have never experienced weather like that. The boys were not too happy, although they did manage to get in a little bit of time in the ocean on a couple of the days. The rainy, stormy weather stirred up some great waves so they had a blast playing in those between the rain storms. Luckily I had taken some pre-stamped images and my watercolor supplies (Peerless watercolors, watercolor pencils and some of my Twinkling H2Os) so I had fun painting up some images that I can use on cards at some point. I had forgotten how much I enjoy using watercolors. My markers have taken over my cards, especially my Copics, so I don't use watercolors much. I think I might start using them more now that I have reminded myself of how much I like them!


Here is a card I made last night to send to a friend whose birthday is tomorrow. (Lucky for me she lives in town so she will get it by tomorrow!) The paper I used on this card is all from Stampin' Up. The base of the card is Close to Cocoa. The DP is from Stampin' Up and was one they discontinued recently; I don't recall the name of it right now. The pink label is SU Pirouette Pink from last year's In Color line and the red piece under the scallops is Riding Hood Red from SU's In Colors. The yummy cake stamp, candle and sentiment are all from the new 100% Sweet set by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs. Love that set! There are so many yummy treats to stamp. A word of caution with that set -- don't stamp with it when you are hungry! LOL!

Do you see those little rhinestones on the four corners of the label? Those are the new rhinestones from Gina K Designs. I colored them with my Copic marker to make them that reddish-pink color so they would coordinate with the card. It works like a charm to color them with your Copics; no smearing or color coming off on your hands. How great is that??
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer! Enjoy the beautiful weather!