Top 13 of 2013

Hi, everyone!

It's become a tradition for OWHers to post their 10 favorite cards of the year. In honor of 2013, we are posting our top 13 cards.

To see my Top 13 of 2013, please join me at the new blog There's Always the Other Side. (Yep, that blog title sums up my stamping abilities in 5 short words!)

One other quick announcement: Bobbi (of Bobbi's Treasure) and I are debuting a new card-making challenge blog today. We'd love for you to check it out at Words 2 Scrap By.


Thanks for stopping. Happy 2014!

Greetings in Green and Cream

Hi, everyone.

Last Thursday, a cold kept me from our stamp club card kit meeting. Bernadette was kind enough to send home my kit with a friend. So, I took some time last night to put together the cards -- with one twist.

The cards were supposed to use our newly purchased monogram stamp. Now, I have some definite plans for my stamp -- "S" is a pretty common letter to use for cards. Hmmm... words that come to mind are sorry, spring, snow, and Santa... to name just a few. Using my monogram to make note cards featuring the letter "S" was not my original plan when I ordered the stamp.

So, I used the materials in the kit to make some "Hello" and "Hi" cards for Operation Write Home -- adding a few embellishments of my own. Two of the cards are green and cream, which is probably as close as I'm going to get to this week's Throwdown Challenge of a non-Christmas card that is red and white or green and white.

Stampin' Up papers; TPC Studio sentiment in Distress Ink walnut stain
Cuttlebug ef; stash ribbon from OWH; Tombow foam adhesive; Marvy circle punch

Parting Thoughts

Really looking forward to a new blog starting up on January 1. Be sure to stop back here for details. :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

CHA, CHA, CHA

Hi, everyone.

It's that time of year when Sandy prepares for OWH's trip to CHA. An all-call went out for kits, so I came up with the kits shown below. Tried for a little variety: gender-neutral thank you, kid-friendly greeting, and girlie-girlie miss you.

Bee: Paper Smooches, Distress Ink core, SU ef, computer-generated sentiments, garage sale brad
Map: SU background stamp on watercolor paper, DI core, SU brads, stash ribbon
Miss You: Martha Stewart punch, TPC Studio sentiment, DI core, Sizzix ef, Paper Studio brads

I'm hoping at least one of these makes it to CHA. But, it's good to know that all cards will be assembled and make their way to troops one way or the other. Think I'm going to link up the little bee for today's Midweek Throwdown to make a love card for a little one. The "Hi, Honey" counts... right?

Tis the season to post and run! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

3 Little Hearts, Lots of Love

Hi, everyone.

A quick post for a love card inspired by this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown to make a non-Valentine love card.

Distress Ink core paper; EK 3-heart punch
Celebrate It! ribbon; Glossy Accents; gems
Tombow adhesives

Kept this one simple... maybe too simple. After I had attached the ribbon and adhered the 3 hearts, I was really thinking the card needed more... and wishing I had done some embossing. So, I added a layer of glossy-accented hearts. Then I decided to add a little more bling.

I kept hearing Paula's bootcamp instructions on this one -- adding a third (10%) color of blue that was not in the original plans, giving great care when it came to the placement of the hearts, and really contemplating whether to add the gems. Thanks, Paula!

Hope it brings a big smile to a loved one's face. Think this one could even go to a tweener or teen.  :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Always...

Hi, everyone.

Today's card was inspired by two challenge: to make a masculine card for this month's OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge and to make a Valentine's Day or Love Card for OWH's Midweek Throwdown.

Authentique Pride; Distress Ink core (antique linen, fired brick); Bazzill (admiral)
original computer-generated sentiment in Mistral printed directly on core paper
hearts: hand cut from template, inked in Distress Ink fired brick with SU daubers
EK punch hearts on inside of  card
SU brads; Tombow foam adhesives for small heart

When making an Any Hero card on Sunday from this pad of Authentique paper, I was really drawn to this plaid. While I used other papers for Sunday's card, I kept this in mind for a masculine non-patriotic card. This plaid with its splashes of red seemed a good choice for a masculine Valentine's Day card. 

The red used for the hearts actually is much truer to the red in the plaid than the image shows. I initially inked the edges of the small heart so that it would stand out from the bigger heart. But, the fired brick ink on the fired brick paper had such a nice look, I decided to ink the edges of the bigger heart as well. However, I took care to leave some separation where the two hearts overlap.

A quick internet search for masculine Valentine's Day cards yielded a few possible designs. So, I tweaked one of the layouts for the card above. Although hubby did not give it an overwhelming endorsement, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. (Maybe he was just card-weary by that point of the evening. At least that's the story I'm sticking with!) And, I think it makes for a nice OWH masculine Valentine's Day card that could also be used later in the year as a love/anniversary card.

Parting Thoughts

Finally making a dent in those challenges. Now I need to make some progress on Valentines for OWH.

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Have a nice week.

Pops of Red and Blue

Hi, everyone!

Hope the weather your way is not too bad. Watching the Lions-Eagles game and can't believe the conditions! Glad it's not anything like that in my menopause room. :)

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #202.

Authentique Pride; Bazzill admiral; Distress Ink antique linen
burlap/jute; Paper Smooches twine; SU brads
circles: Marvy punch, Paper Shaper punch, hand cutting
star punch: Paper Studio
mini glue dots, Tombow foam adhesives

There is a piece of Authentique paper behind the burlap, adhered with glue dots, to add a little more contrast against the neutral pattern paper. Other than that, gonna make this post short and sweet 'cause I've got some challenges to catch up on and some Valentine's Day cards to assemble. :)

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

What did Poppa Bee Say to Baby Bee?

Answer: Bee Mine  :)

Hi, everyone.

The inspirations for today's card were an adorable Paper Smooches stamp set and the desire to make some kid-friendly Valentine's Day cards for Operation Write Home.

Paper Smooches images and sentiment stamped on watercolor paper in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; SU Sizzix embossing folder
embossed paper sponged in Distress Inks with SU daubers
stash ribbon; garage sale brad; mini glue dots

I like the pairing of the poppa (or momma) bee and baby bee. But, when I went to put together the elements of this card, I realized just how big the parent bee really is for an A2 card. Should I decide to do a version 2.0 of this card, I might actually print out a slightly smaller version of the bees and sentiment.

I played around with several color combos for sentiment background paper. It felt like there needed to be a piece of white between the brown and red. In the end, the three background papers seem to help bring my eye to the sentiment since the bees and heart make such a strong image.

I tried to create a single focal point -- or at least a flow to the card, by having the bee image touch the sentiment, and the sentiment touch the ribbon.

Speaking of the ribbon... Isn't it amazing how things like this ribbon look so crooked when you see them in a pic?

Oh well, think there's a little one who will love receiving this from their mommy or daddy -- crooked ribbon and all. :)


Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Have a great week.

The True Soldier

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with family and loved ones.

Seems like forever since I've made a traditional Any Hero card. Missed quite a bit of October due to some traveling, and made Any Hero holiday cards in November.

The inspiration for today's card came from OWH Sketch #201 and Donna's wonderful sample card. Since this is an Any Hero card that doesn't require mailbox-to-mailbox delivery, I went with two thick ribbons and double thick foam adhesives.

Bo Bunny Anthem; Distress Ink core
sentiment (Stamper's Best??? Unity???), heat embossed in Distress Ink core
Paper Smooches ribbons; Paper Studio brads
Tombow adhesives

The only deviation from the sketch was the horizontal strip. Since I went with ribbon that was only 1.5 inches thick, I changed the layout slightly to accommodate the narrower ribbon.

I love the sentiment on the stamp, which I picked up during OWH's Birthday Bash month. But, for the life of me, I can't remember who made it.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a start on some OWH Valentines.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

White on White on White on White

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. Ours was very nice -- having our dads over for dinner and watching a little football. We had a quiet, peaceful, relaxing day.

Now for my card for this week's Midweek Throwdown color challenge -- a card I almost didn't make. The challenge is to make a white on white card. I was going to pass because I honestly didn't think I had a single sheet of nice white paper in my stash following the OWH and craft show Christmas card holiday rushes. But, as I was cleaning out the craft room -- which is a disaster because of those same holiday rushes, I came across some lovely Stampin' Up! paper that I purchased years ago at a garage sale. So, I used pieces of four sheets of lovely, textured paper for the card below.

Stampin' Up! paper; Martha Stewart punches
white tulle; Queen & Co pearls; white gel pen antennae

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Thanks, Allison, for a great challenge.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend.

8 Packages Tied Up in a Bow

Hi, everyone. Happy weekend!

The card below was inspired by this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown to make a masculine birthday card and CAS-ual Fridays' challenge to make a card featuring eight of something -- in this case, 8 birthday packages all tied up in a bow.

DCWV Natural matstack with foil
Paper Smooches twine
Paper Studio brads

Pretty pleased with the way this one turned out. Really love all the textures with the foil in the paper, the twine, and the brads. Hope it will brighten the day of one of a troop's loved one.

Parting Thoughts

Will try to make some time to write about this week's craft show. And, then there's a post-craft-show craft room that needs some cleaning up. :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Christmases of Days Gone By

Hi, everyone.

Boy, what a difference a day makes. Hope everyone is safe and sound following yesterday's weather.

The card below is inspired by two separate posts: this month's OWH Design Bootcamp lesson from Paula about using texture and this week's CAS-ual Fridays and Curtain Call's combined challenge. (Luckily, this digital camera pic turned out much better than my last few efforts! Maybe there's hope for me yet...)

Distress Ink core, Bo Bunny Father Christmas, Bazzill or AC cardstock
Stampin' Up! stamp and punch
dry embossing with Cuttlebug folder
heat embossing with Inkadinkado gold powder
Martha Stewart branch punch; Creative Memories oval cutting system
Really Reasonable Ribbon lace; Paper Studio brads
Tombow foam adheaives

The CAS-ual Fridays inspiration photo reminded me of a Currier and Ives or Norman Rockwell Christmas. So, it just felt right to pull out my remaining Bo Bunny Father Christmas papers and new Stampin' Up! old-fashioned ornament stamp set to create this holiday card.

Love the richness of the colors, the simplicity of the design, and all of the texture. (I know there's a  lot of tactile texture, not so sure about the visual texture.)

This card is going to OWH to send some holiday cheer to one of our deployed troops.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again, Paula, for another wonderful Design Bootcamp. Your posts have been fabulous!

Looking forward to Wednesday's craft show at work. Hoping for lots of sales. After all,  girl's gotta do something to support her card-making hobby...   :)

Have a great rest of the week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Snowflakes in Purple and Silver

Hi, everyone!

Loved, loved, loved today's OWH CAS sketch, which inspired the Any Hero Christmas card shown below. Still missing our printer/scanner, which means fumbling around with the focus on our digital camera. So, I apologize in advance for the fuzziness of the pic.

Distress Ink core and Recollections papers
SU sentiment; Recolrection snowflake punch
Creative Memories square punches
sentiment and snowflakes heat embossed in Stampdendous silver tinsel
Paper Studio brads

Other than a slight adjustment in the size of the squares, I think I was pretty true to the sketch this time around. Shocking, I know! But, I do love the simplicity of this sketch -- and think it might become a go-to favorite for a lot of cards... Valentine hearts, spring butterfies, summer seashells, fall leaves...

Parting Thoughts

Think weather's supposed to get kind of dicey, so I'm going to sign off. Hope all of you in the Chicago area are safe and sound.

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Happy Birthday, Princess

Happy Friday, everyone!

Trying to get a few more cards for Wednesday's Craft Show -- mixing in a few general sentiment cards with all those holiday cards. The card below is my latest attempt at a non-glitter princess card. (Trying to keep a glitter-free card-making space.)

Recollections dp; AC and Bazzill cardstock; watercolor paper
computer-generated sentiment (Lucida Handwriting)
Martha Stewart punches and gem; flea market ribbon
Inside Sentiment: May All Your Dreams Come True

Okay, just a few sentiment-free butterfly cards to go. :)

Thanks for stopping. Happy scrappin'! And, have a great weekend!

Bee Mine -- Take 2

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make a card using dry embossing. Just loved Carols' sample card.

As for my contribution... Sounded like another great opportunity to stamp some little bees.

Distress Ink core, embossed with Sizzix/SU embossing folder
Paper Smooches images stamped in Distress Ink

Inside of Card

waterfall card

These three panels on the front, and the inside sentiment, make up the four panels on this waterfall card from the other day.

And, I don't usually include onside sentiments for OWH cards. But, these little bees really needed a little extra pizzazz on the inside. :)

I'm really liking the concept of the card, but am not so happy with the dimensions of the panels on the front. Think I may give this another try using two circles and an oval...

Parting Thoughts

Another short and sweet post. Still trying to recover from last week's festivities. And, gotta make some card bases for next week's craft show and e-mail a friend about a possible December Girl Get-Together.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Bee Mine

Hi, everyone.

For those of us who make cards for Operation Write Home, Veteran's Day is bittersweet. A heartfelt thanks to those who have served and sacrificed for our country.

This month's Our Daily Bread Design OWH challenge is to make a love card. Yes, while the rest of the world is thinking turkey and pumpkin pie, OWHers are thinking Valentine's Day cards for our troops.

Paper Smooches stamp set, heat embossed in Distress Inks
Distress Ink core paper, embossed with Sizzix folder

The card above was inspired by a technique learned in one of Bernadette's Stampin' Up! classes -- making a waterfall card. Honestly, my brain is too fried from today at work to even begin to try and explain the card. But, if you're interested in learning more about waterfall cards, a quick Google search will turn up some videos. :)

The images below show the panels that pulling on the tab will reveal.

Since this card is going to a troop to write home to a loved one, I wanted to include a little writing room. The image below shows the back of the card.

What's not to love about a card that combines Paper Smooches stamps, Distress Ink core paper, Distress Inks, and embossing?!

Think CAS-ual Fridays has an embossing challenge going on -- and Paper Smooches has a guest designer challenge. If so, this little card might just end up on both of those sites.

Parting Thoughts

So glad I was able to get a card made for the ODBD challenge. Would hate to miss that.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Any Hero Whimsical Christmas Card

Hi everyone,

Today's Any Hero Christmas card was inspired by today's OWH Sketch, October's Really Reasonable Ribbon club assortment of non-traditional holiday color ribbons, and a previouly-published whimsical tree card.

AC cardstock; Really Reasonable Ribbon (October club sampler)
EK hole punch; the Paper Studio star punch

Still have to write a note inside this one. I am very excited that the back in stamped with my new personalized OWH stamp from RubberStamps.com!

Not quite sure what's up with the scanner these days. The green on this card isn't nearly as neon as it appears here...

Parting Thought

Have a good week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Holiday Wishes for Our Troops

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make an Any Hero Christmas Card or two. And, last night was Bernadette's Christmas Card class. Perfect timing!

All Stampin' Up! products

In the class we made 15 cards, 3 each of 5 designs. A pennant card and the card shown above were my two favorites. Since the card above is the "sturdier" of the two, it will most likely be the safer bet to make it across the miles safe and sound. So, at least one of these -- and probably all three -- will become Any Hero cards. :)

I loved the message shown in the blog post. So, I think I will tweak it just a little to write inside this little card.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again, Bernadette, for another fun evening.

The 90th birthday celebration for my father-in-law continues this afternoon with an open house being hosted by a neighbor.

Think that's it for now. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Your Thoughtfulness Meant the World

Hi, everyone.

This card has been rattling around in my brain for such a long time. I just never had quite the right tools or skills to make it a reality. And, then I saw the new Stampin' Up! World Background Map stamp in this year's catalog!

But, then there were a couple of delays in getting the new stamp. So, the card still had a little more time to rattle around. Finally, the stamp arrived, the ideas came together, and the card below was born.  :)

Stampin' Up! World Map background stamp
stamped image on watercolor paper in jet black StazOn
map image washed in watered Honey Brown and Cape Cod acrylics
map and scroll edges inked in Distress Ink wild honey with SU sponge dauber
map edges distressed with Ranger distress tool
scroll: computer-generated with Word shapes and Old English font
background paper: Distress Ink core
American Craft premium ribbon, garage sale brads
Inside Sentiment: Your Thoughtfulness Meant the World to Me

Making a few more of these for the craft show. And, think this one might just be Pin-worthy! Can't wait to show it to my fellow Stampin' Up! partners in crime and our SU instructor at our Christmas Card-Making Party on Friday.

Parting Thoughts

Can't wait for tomorrow -- my father-in-law's 90th birthday dinner. His sister and brother-in-law came in tonight from Alabama. And, friends and neighbors seem really excited. Should be a special night for a remarkable man.  :)

SU Word Window Punches...

... They're not just not for polar bear arms anymore!

Hi, everyone. Hope the work week is off to a good start.

Okay, so I was making some polar bear cards for a couple of upcoming craft shows. I was in quick need of a word window punch. My fabulous Stampin' Up! demonstrator Bernadette offered to loan me hers. And, it seemed only right to purchase one from her -- although I was so polar-beared out that I couldn't even think about punching out any more bear legs anytime soon. :)

Imagine my surprise when I looked at my new punch and saw.... birthday candles. Yep, little tiny birthday candles!  :)

Distress Ink core, candles lightly sanded; Bazzill brown
Stampin' Up! word window punch; EK leaf punch
computer-generated sentiment (Andy) on watercolor paper
Creative Memories corner rounder; Fiskars scissors

I trimmed the tops of the candles with the Fiskars scissors, and I used a piece of removable tape to line up the bottoms of the candles.

Parting Thoughts

Had to smile when Jen said that she'd take a beach vacation over card making. So, what does that say about me that I worked on craft show polar bear cards in the evenings? Thanks to Donna and Paula for 'fessing up to remembering that "Less Filling, Tastes Great" commercial.

Speaking of that commercial... Eons ago -- back when my brother and I still rode roller coasters, we were waiting for a ride to begin on the Racer, which was a two track coaster that ran racing roller coasters. My brother looked over at the other track of riders and hollered, "Less filling!" Their response... nothing but blank stares. I laughed so hard. My brother, as I recall, was not quite as amused. Must say it was one of those classic family memories.  :)

Nearing the home stretch on craft show cards. I'm looking forward to checking the last cards off my list for several reasons, one of which is getting back in the swing for OWH. Need to make this month's ODBD card and want to try that scratch-off card in today's tutorial.

And, can't wait for my father-in-law's 90th birthday festivities to begin!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Fewer Layers, More Texture...

Hi, everyone.

When I was trying to think of a name for today's card, and a  title for today's post, a line from an old commercial came to mind. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers, "Less Filling, Tastes Great".

So, for today's Any Hero card, I tried to make up for a lack of layers by adding a bit more texture. As with most of my Any Hero cards, the card below was inspired by this week's OWH Sunday Sketch.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Recollections jute, Distress Ink core paper
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain on watercolor paper

garage sale brads

I rotated the sketch to go with a horizontal sentiment. And, since I was going with fewer layers, I cut the backgound dp to maximize the paper embellishment on the right.  

Parting Thoughts 

Sorry I've been so sporadic with posts lately -- but it's been for lots of good reasons. The months of October and November have brought lots of fun family-related events/activities. Let's see there was a beach getaway followed by a family reunion. This week, there will be 3 separate events celebrating my father-in-law's 90th birthday. When you add these to making some cards for upcoming craft shows and our typical day-to-day activities. Well, let's just say we've been rather busy -- and quite merry.  :)

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! And, have a great week!