Under Reconstruction - Please check back soon and often!!

Hi Friends! I've been away due to health issues and slow dial up. Well, I'm feeling better and working on my health issues -AND- we going wireless internet this week. So as soon as I can get everything set up wireless, I'll be back online to share with you again. I hope to share more often and more cards & projects. See you soon!!!

Christmas in July post 3

The second card we made this month is called a
"Cami's Tri-fold Card. We again used the
"Season of Joy" stamp set. We took a piece of
Rose Red card stock and cut it too 5½" x 11".
We then scored it at 3½" & 7". Then prefold
on the score lines, right panel will be a little
longer. Slide the slit punch in so the semi-circle
is slightly under the fold & punch. Punch a hole
in the cneter of the slit punch. (Only punch the
back layer. Unfold the card and cut or punch
out the middle panel only. Stamp & color the
image on another piece of card stock. Add
adhesive to the back of the image & center in
the opening. Unfold and stamp the other panels.
Fold card and wrap the ribbon around and run
it through the hole and tie shut. Card was then
finished by adding the scallop oval punch and
oval punched Merry Christmas. Shown below
is the card open, both the front and the back.
This makes a really nice card to share!

Christmas in July post 2

This month at Stamp Camp I taught the "Soot Technique". Yes, it it made using real soot. First we sponged Ballet Blue ink on the Glossy Cardstock. Then light a candle and using

tweezers hold the glossy card stock with the glossy side down to the candle (close to the flame). Move back and forth until you have built up soot on the glossy side. Blow it out if it starts to catch fire. Be careful handling the card stock as to not make fingerprints in the soot. Then stamp the image (uninked) onto the soot, remembering that you will be trimming the piece to remove the edges. Clean the stamp immediately with a baby wipe (preferably between each image), then clean well with a regular cleaning pad. When satisfied with the look you will need to spray the image with a clear sealant. When that is dry you will trim the piece to fit your card. Decorate the rest of the card as shown.

I used the "Season of Joy" stamp set. Card stock used was Whisper White, Ballet Blue and Glossy White. Ballet Blue ink was also used. The dangling ornament is made with the scallop punch and ¾" circle punch with a dimensional to pop-it up! It is hung from the white ribbon using silver cord.

I'm back! And celebrating Christmas in July! (a little late!)

My scanner was down for a over a week,

but it's back in business!

I'd like to share with you a Christmas

Tag that I made to share with my

stamping friends at Certified Stamp-

aholics of MBD in Demotte. We had a

shoebox swap this past month and this

was my simple project! So fun and easy

to make! The Gingie is made by using

the Tag Punch as it's belly and a 1" circle

punch for it's head. I used 2 Word

Window punches cut in half for arms

and legs. The heart is made using the

smallest heart on the heart to heart

punch and eyes and cheeks are made

using the 2 hole punch. The top of the

tag is made using the Round Tab punch.

I hope you'll give this fun little guy a try!

My Mom's Birthday Card

My Mom celebrated her birthday on the 10th of July. We celebrated with her (along with my sister Cathy) on Saturday the 11th by taking her out to eat at her choice of restaurants, Texas Corral. She loves their sweet potatoes and rolls with honey butter. We ended the meal by all of us sharing one piece of their huge carrot cake (and even took some home!).
Mom's favorite color is Turquoise and I wanted to use one of the new In-Colors so I chose Bermuda Bay. I think it turned out quite beautiful and so did she. I made the butterflies by using the Beautiful Butterflies die in my Big Shot, then I ran them through again using the small dots texture plate. I "hooked" them together using 3 small Ice Rhinestone brads and attached them to the background using dimensions. I wanted to add a little black, so I took a piece of black cardstock and using the Scallop-edged Punch, I punched one edge then lined it up with Bermuda Bay dotted ribbon and added it to the card. Finally I add the "happy birthday" greeting. Happy Birthday Mom!! And many more!!

My Father-in-laws birthday card

I wanted to share with you today my Father-in-law's birthday card. His birthday is July 8th and he likes to celebrate it with the 4th celebrations. Thus the reason I choose the stars. This was a simply and easy to make card. It is made using both the large and small star punches. I used Whisper White, Night of Navy, Real Red & Ballet Blue cardstock.
He really enjoyed it along with the "Washers Game" we got him. "Happy Birthday Pappy!!"

I made it! I was able to post 3 times this week! Now for a little "monkeying" around!

This is my third and final card from my June Stamp Camp. We made this "monkey" by using the Scallop Circle die in the Big Shot by folding a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock in half and cutting it out (just make sure to keep the fold below the cutting marks). The facial features are made from the following punches or dies: The "muzzle" is made from the largest of the ovals on the "Ovals" die (just cut off the top ½"), the eyes are made using the 1 5/8" circle punch in Creamy Caramel, then the "whites" are made using the 1 3/8" punch and the "irises" are made using the 1" punch on black cardstock. The pupils are made using a white gel pen. The "ears" are made by using a 1" punch of Creamy Caramel cut in half (actually I trimmed then down about 1/8" to look more like ears). The mouth is the widest punch on the 3 hearts punch. Don't forget to add white gel ink to the mouth and ears too! Then if your monkey is a "girl monkey" add a simple bow. We added a piece of Creamy Caramel cardstock to the inside to be able to write the greeting. This was so much fun! Even my almost 3 year-old Great-Nephew, William (with a little help), made one while visiting over the 4th of July holiday! Next time you need a cute birthday card for a child or fun-loving adult, I hope you'll think of this monkey!

Birthday Fun - Tri-Shutter Fold Card

My theme for June's Stamp Camp was birthdays. The second card we made was a Tri-shutter Fold Card. It looks complicated but it's not! The hardest part is folding, but it's not that hard.
You start with a 5½" x 11" piece of cardstock (here Chocolate Chip). It is scored at 2", 4", 8" & 10". You then turn the card-stock and cut between the 2" & 10" scored lines. You are now ready to fold (the second example shows the fold lines) and then to decorate the card. I used stamps from 2 stamp sets "Party Hearty" and "Crazy for Cupcakes". I stamped them all onto Baja Breeze Cardstock with Chocolate Chip ink.

We added a piece of Baja Breeze Cardstock on the back of the outside two panels to have a place to write the birthday greeting and to have a place for a signature. This is so much fun to make and I'm sure the receiver will also enjoy this card.

Reinker Roses - How lovely!!

I have seen these roses all of the internet and decided to teach this technique at June's Stamp Camp. Thanks to Patty Bennett, where I first saw these gorgeous roses! I just love this technique and the flowers are so pretty and real looking!

To do this technique you will need some Shimmery White Cardstock, Whisper White Craft Ink, Clear or White Embossing powder, a heat gun, 2-3 reinkers (I only used Pink Pirouette & Regal Rose) and a Aqua Brush.

The flower is made using the rose stamp from the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. The leaves are made using the leaf die in the Big Shot. I mounted the rose on Pink Pirouette DSP mounted on Regal Rose Cardstock using dimensionals to give it a 3d look. It is then layered onto a Whisper White Card and stamped with "happy birthday" from the All Holidays stamp set..

This is a very elegant looking card and is very fun to make. I hope that you will try it!

Apology accepted?

Life has been very busy lately. I'm still stamping, just haven't had time to upload new pictures. Also my hubby is laid off from his second job and so is home more. We have been working on projects around the house! So I will try and post two to three times a week. Just be patient with me as I do have quit a bit to share with you!

Yes, I'm still here!

I am still here. I have been very busy making graduation gifts, a bridal shower gift for a future neice-in-law, making things for a Craft Show in LaPorte, IN on the 27th of June, preparing for my Stamp Camps and getting Father's Day gifts finished. All of this along with a "bug" that attacked me. Today I am finally feeling better than I have all week. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to scan some items or take pictures and show you what I've been up to.
I also had a birthday and want to show you what my great hubby gave me. So stay tuned!!

Another Father's Day Card

As I mentioned in the previous post this Stamp Set ("And Many Mower") and DSP (Manchester DSP) have become favorites of mine. I just couldn't resist making another card with it.

This is a Tent Fold Card. It is a piece of Kraft card stock 4¼" x 11" fold in half length-wise. I also used Baja Breeze card stock and Very Vanilla. I used Baja Breeze reinker and a Blender Pen to add the color to the stamped piece of Very Vanilla card stock.
As you can see by the picture to the right, I added a little surprise inside the card "Relax"!! This made this card extra fun! It would also make a great retirement card!

And I couldn't stop with making just one card, I had to try a second one with another pattern of the Manchester DSP. I sure wish that this DSP wasn't on the retirement list! I have truly enjoyed using it.

Father's Day is coming soon!

Father's Day is June 21st. It's time to get your Father's Day cards made if you haven't already done so.
Here is a Z-Fold Card that we made at May's Stamp Camps. This is a fun and easy card fold. I used the "And Many Mower" stamp set and "Manchester Designer Series Paper". I really do like both the stamp set and the DSP. They have become favorites for masculine cards!
The Z-Fold card is easy to make, you just take any size card stock (here I used 5 ½" x 8 ½" Kraft CS) and fold it in half then fold it back in half again. I used two different patterns of the DSP to make this card.

Here is a picture of the inside of the card. I have added a "hole, pole & flag" with the words from the stamp set "Hope your day is Par-Fect!". You can also distinguish where I used each of the different DSP. We also added "Happy Father's Day" to complete the card. I hope you will try one soon!

Another Congratulations Card

Don't you just love this bear! He is from the "Under the Stars" Stamp Set. I saw a version of this card on the "Rubber Room Ramblings" blog, and I just couldn't wait to make one. I did not put the graduation hat on the bear, as not all of my ladies have graduates to the give the card. It would make a nice card for any occasion in which you want to say congratulations!


I also made it patriotic by using the Real Red, Night of Navy and Metallic Gold card stock. To make it even more special we made the card into a pop-up card.
We took a 1 5/8" circle and cut in around and around to make a "spring" and added stars to the "pop-up spring". We attached the large stars to hide the beginning and end of the "spring". (I'm sorry
for the blurry picture. It was the best my scanner would take.)
This card was so fun and easy to make that I'm sure I'll be making many more. My neice Ashley really enjoyed hers! Congratulations Ashley! We are very proud of you! Enjoy college!

Graduation Time

Graduation is just around the corner. I had this idea in mind for a mortar board gift card. I found a very nice pattern by Alicia Coulombe, but it was too big to fit in a regular card envelope and I knew that I didn't have time to get larger envelopes before I need to have the cards made. So I took her idea and worked to resize the card. It took me awhile, but I did it. Here is the card I made. I also made it in black and orange for my neice, LeAnn who recently graduated from Anderson University, Anderson, IN. It has a pocket that a gift card or money will fit nicely in.

Here is the card open, so you can see the stamping. I'm sorry about the fuzzy picture - on the top (red part) it says "congratulations" over and over. The stamps come from the Great Grads stamp set. We made the tassel from red embroidery floss. The adhesive we used was Sticky Strip as the

card will need to be secure to hold the money or gift card. I am working a pdf of the pattern. I'll try to attach it here as soon as I get it figured out and how to attach it. Give this card a try, you'll enjoy making it and giving it!

Today I'd like to share with you a Double Pocket Bag and

Gift Card. They were easy and fun to make!

(As a matter of fact, I made 32 of them for a Mother-Daughter Luncheon at our church.)

I found the directions for this bag at SCS in the resources gallery where Jenn Diercks gives great directions. The bag is made using one piece of 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper. First you score one inch on the top and the bottom of the DSP, then you fold it down and glue in place. Then turn the card stock and score the 12" side at 3 1/2" and 8 1/2". Fold on the score lines and add adhesive to form a "tube". Next you score at 4 3/4", 5", & 5 1/4". You will then fold in half and using a bone folder to make nice crisp folds. Then continue folding and using the bone folder. You will fold it up to make a "W". Next add a small piece of Sticky Strip to hold the bags together, this will also help it to stand. Then using a slot punch you will make the openings for the ribbon. You will only punch through the top layer of the bag. Then add your ribbon of choice to finish the bag.

Decorate as desired. Here I used the Big Shot and the Daisies die. I added leaves made from the large oval punch, cut to a point and added "veins" to make it look more real. I also added ink to the edges to give a realistic look.

We also made a gift card to match by using a piece of 3" x 6" card stock folded in half and added the same flower only using the 2 smaller petal layers to make it fit well on the gift card.
This is a fun project and can be used to give many kinds of gifts, such as teas, cocoas, candy, etc... I used it for my Mother-Daughter luncheon to hold a booklet, a bookmark, a package of seeds and a pen. It made a nice favor and everyone enjoyed receiving one.

Another Mother's Day Card

Here is another Mother's Day card that we made. It is made using the Manhattan Flower Textured Impression Die and the Big Shot on Card stock Vellum. We then cut around the top of embossed roses to make a contrast. We added a butterfly using the Beautiful Butterflies die and then topped with pearls from the Pretties Kit. (We wished we had run the butterfly through again and added some texture using one the Texture Plates.) We then added some Whisper White Organza Ribbon. We added Happy Mother's Day using the Wide Oval Punch and the Scalloped Oval Punch.

It made a very elegant looking card that would also make a nice wedding card.

I'm ready to start sharing again! Thanks for your patience!

Hi Friends!

I'm back and ready to start posting again! Please be patient with me as I get a handle on blogging. I will do my best to try to post a few times each week. I am finally feeling better than I have for a while.
Today I'm going to show you one of the cards that we made at my April Stamp Camps for Mother's Day.

It is a flower pot card. This card is so much fun to make. The flowers were made using the Big Shot and are held together using brads. Three flowers were added to the top of the pot. Then the top two flowers were attached to a piece of cardstock that was inserted into the flower pot to be able to include a written message. We stamped the message "I just realized that I'm turning into my mother... (lucky me!) on the card also. The card is held shut by the ribbon that we tied onto the front. I hope you'll try to make one! It would also make a nice birthday or get well card!

I'm still here!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Just haven't been feeling real well. I promise to add some new cards real soon!

Another Valentine Technique

Here is another Valentine Technique I have taught. The technique is Scratch 'n Sniff. This is a very fun technique and kids especially like it! All you need is some clear embossing powder and Sugar-free drink powder. I used Raspberry Ice Crystal Light drink powder. I hope you will try it too! Stamp Set used is "Happy Heart Day".

Well, I've decided to jump....

...Jump into blogging that is. This is something new for me! So please be patient with me while I learn. I'm doing this because I want to share what I do and inspire you as others have inspired me.

The first card that I want to share with you is one that I taught last year, but was such a favorite I think it's worth showing again! It is done with the Shaving Cream technique, it not only looks great but it smells wonderful!

Supplies needed:

Stamp Sets: Happy Heart Day

Card Stock: Glossy White, Real Red, & Pink Passion

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Markers, Shaving Cream, Real Red, Pink Passion & Pretty in Pink Reinkers

I hope you will try to make one for a special friend!