Love Each Other

I'm back after a long, unintended hiatus from card making.  Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of your hobbies?  This card was inspired from a sermon I heard at my church recently.  The sermon was based on Romans 12:18 which is about being a peace with everyone as much as possible.  The pastor mentioned that it is not always possible to agree with everyone on everything but to treat everyone with love and respect as Christ would.  It is particularly important that believers try to be at peace with others in the body of Christ, even if it means agreeing to disagree. I don't have a stamp with Romans 12:18 so I used my stamp with John 15:12.  I think this verse correlates to the sermon well.

To make this card an autumn feel, I used rich earthy colors and leaves.  It was fun to pull out my old Cuttlebug leaf dies.  I used a little bit of gold Smooch paint to add a little shimmer to the leaves.  The sketch is from the Viva la Verve February 2012 challenge.  Even though I missed the challenge by a couple of months I still like the sketches.

Recipe:
Stamps:  John 15:12 from Scripture Collection 6 - ODBD
Paper:  VV, Confetti Cream, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, DP - SU
Ink:  Rich Cocoa - Memento
Accessories:  Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Dies, Smooch paint, Brads

Birthday Ballerina

My niece, Little Munchkin, has turned 4!  This is the card I made for her as Little Munchkin loves to go to her ballet class every week and loves cupcakes even more.  I used some of the same DP that I used on her big sister Sweepie's card.  The color choices were driven by the DP and the sketch is just a whim.  I used my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers to color Millie Mouse.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Ballet Millie - My Favorite Things, Express Yourself - SU
Paper:  WW, Baked Brown Sugar, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, DP - SU
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Suede
Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Markers, Nestabililties, Buttons, Twine, Ribbon, Word Window Punch, Piercing Tool

Superstar Graduate

Another close friend of mine graduated last month with her Master's degree.  I am very proud of her and all the hard work she has put in to finishing her program.

I chose the colors for this card from the DP and the sketch is a mixture if different cards I've seen on Pinterest and Splitcoast Stampers.  The flower embellishments are actually beads that I found at Wal-mart some years ago.  I did some paper piercing on the corners of the mat for the main image and used an embossing folder on the 3 strips of Elegant Eggplant.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Starstruck - Verve
Paper:  WW, Tangerine Tango, Concord Crush, Melon Mambo
Ink:  Rich Razzelberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry
Accessories:  Nestabilities, Embossing Folder, Flower and bead embellishments, piercing tool

Doctor's Orders

I got out a stamp from my House Mouse collection for this card.  One of the members of my Bible study injured his shoulder.  This image is a humorous message for him to take it easy while he is recovering.

I used my Spectrum Noir markers to color the image.  I love how quickly I can color with and how easy it is to blend with alcohol markers.  My poor Prisma Pencils are collecting dust but I do have some coloring projects planned for them.

Recipe:

Stamps:  Doctor's Orders - House Mouse, Always In My Thoughts, Hardwood - SU

Paper:  WW, Wisteria Wonder, Baked Brown Sugar

Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Marina Mist, Soft Suede

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir Markers, Buttons

Three Cheers for You

A friend of mine just finished grad school and this is card I made for her in celebration of her hard work.  I used beverage stamps and a sentiment from the new to me SU set Happy Hour.  I used Seize the Birthday Sketch #13 that I found on Pinterest.  The colors I chose myself from what have in my scrap folders.  This was a fun card to make using scraps from my horde of DP.

Recipe:

Stamps:  Happy Hour - SU

Paper:  VV, Old Olive, Peach Parfait, Regal Rose, DP - SU

Ink:  Old Olive, Regal Rose, Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo

Accessories:  Dies, Stick on Gems, Border Punch, SU Markers 

Bringing Back Big Blooms

I am a stamping hoarder.  There I admitted it.  I have so much stuff that I often forget about the stuff I haven't used in years.  This stamp set is one example.  Big Blooms is a SU set that I got when I first started as a Demo.  I used it quite a bit back in the day but haven't touched in about 6 years, until now.

I love the whimsical little flowers and the stems to create my own little paper and ink garden.  This card expresses my joy that we now have warm weather and the flowers are blooming.  I left off the sentiment to add this card to my generic stash for when I need to send a random card at a moment's notice.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Big Blooms - SU
Paper:  WW, Wild Wasabi, Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, DP
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Island Indigo, Midnight Muse, Wild Wasabi
Accessories:  Ribbon, Stick on Gem

Cupcake Dreams

Sweepie is turning 7 next month and this is the card I made for her.  She is growing up to be quite a young lady that sometimes it seems too fast.  She requested that I make her a "grown-up" card and not a little kid's card.  So this is the card I made for her.  I think it is whimsical without being childish.  I would feel comfortable giving this card to an adult.  I would even give it to a guy if I changed the Primrose Pink to a more masculine color.  I didn't use any stamping on this card.  I just used my SU cupcake punch and an embossing folder.

Recipe:
Stamps:  None
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, WW, Pool Party, Primrose Pink, Calypso Coral, DP
Accessories:  Cupcake Punch, Embossing Folder, Ribbon, Button, Corner Rounder Punch

Happy Happy Scrap Birthday

Here is another quick birthday card made with designer paper scraps.  I changed things up a bit by making the middle more vibrant and colorful strip wider and layered it on top of the other strips.  I used my scallop border punch on the ends.

Recipe:
Stamps:  All Year Cheer 1 - SU
Paper:  WW, DP
Ink:  Early Espresso
Accessories:  Scallop Punch, Button

Regal Scrap Birthday

This card is just like the one from my previous post but I used deeper colors to make it more masculine.  Again, I cut strips from scraps of designer paper and clipped the ends to make colorful banners.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Hip Hip Hooray - SU
Paper:  WW, DP
Ink:  Island Indigo
Accessories:  Button, Twine

Bright Happy Birthday

My stash of birthday cards is running low so I decided to make some quick cards using designer paper scraps.  I trimmed the DP to 1-inch wide strips and varied the length.  I then cut then ends to make banners and flipped the edges a bit.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Hip Hip Hooray - SU
Paper:  WW, DP
Ink:  Wild Wasabi
Accessories:  Button, Twine

Welcome Savannah!

This card was made for a family at church that welcomed a new baby into their home.  I CASE'd it from this card I found on Pinterest.  I used the same stamp set, layout and banner idea but I changed the colors and used the onsie to spell out Savannah's name.  This was a cute and fun card to make.

Recipe:
Stamps: Little Additions, Designer Typeset - SU
Paper:  WW, Marina Mist, Basic Grey, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette,
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Basic Grey, Marina Mist, Perfect Plum
Accessories:  Flower Brads, Small Scallop Punch, Buttons, Embossing Folder, Brad, Quilted Bow Applique, Smooch Ink

Cup of Kindness

This was a fun little tag I made last year but stashed in a drawer and forgot about it, until now.  I used the now retired SU Scentsational Season stamp set and the coordinating dies.  I hate fussy cutting so if a set has a coordination die or punch I am more likely to use it.  I used DP on the tag and then sponged over it.  I sponged WW craft ink on the blue and pink pieces to give it some winter frostiness.  This card would be perfect to describe this winter, as I spent many days watching snowfalls with a cup of coffee in hand.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Scentsational Season - SU, Latte Love - Fiskars
Paper:  Pretty In Pink, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, DP - SU
Ink:  Marina Mist, Soft Suede, WW Craft
Accessories:  Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Dies, Sponge, Ribbon, Glitter Pen, Stick on Gem, Cropadile

Wildflower Kindness

This is a set from the current SU catalog that I have had but am now just getting a chance to play with.  I got the set because it has a matching embossing folder that is sold separately.  It ended up being a pretty quick and easy card to make.  

Recipe:

Stamps:  Wildflower Meadow - SU, Latte Love - Fiskars

Paper: WW, Marina Mist

Ink:  WW Craft, Marina Mist

Accessories:  Embossing Folder, Heat Tool, Flower Punch, Stick on Pearl

Quarterfancy's Ark

I broke out my Spectrum Noir Markers for this one.  I had this stamp for a while but haven't done much with it until now.  This is the type of image that is best colored with a blend-able medium like colored pencils or alcohol markers, so I dusted off my case of Spectrum Noirs and went to work.  I decided on the colored papers after I had finished coloring the image.  I went with patterns all from SU's Quarterfancy Specialty as it had all the colors I wanted in one package.  The sketch is from Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge SSS160.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Two by Two - SU
Paper:  WW, Early Espresso, DP - SU
Ink:  Memento Black
Accesories:  Spectrum Noir Markers, Buttons, Bakers Twine, Embossing Folder, Nestabilities

Christmas 2013

These are the cards I made for Christmas 2013.  I added more details and techniques than I usually use for Christmas.  I used an embossing folder and 2-step stamping.  Out of all the Christmas cards I have made, this is my favorite design.  This is going to be hard for me to top for Christmas 2014!

Recipe:
Stamps:  Evergreen, Come to Bethlehem - SU
Paper:  WW, Island Indigo, Pool Party
Ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party
Accessories:  Embossing Folder, Nestabilities, Label Punch, Star Punch, Stickles

Christmas 2012

I realized that I never posted the cards that I made for the past two Christmases.  These are the ones I made for Christmas 2012.  Since I make about 100 cards to send out to friends and family I like to do different variations to break up the monotony.  I used a sparkly gel pen to add some shimmer accents to the focal image.

I try to choose designs that are quick but interesting since I make so many.  My next post will show my Christmas 2013 design.

Recipe:
Stamps:  First Christmas, Baroque Motifs - SU, Isaiah 9:6 - Verve
Ink: Midnight Muse, Rich Razzleberry, WW
Paper:  WW, Rich Razzleberry, Midnight Muse
Accessories:  Sparkle gel pen

Celebrate

So I have been trying to get my creative juices going and use up stuff in my craft-hoard.  I don't have a lot of masculine birthday cards on hand so I made this one.  I like to have a few cards stashed that I can just quickly pop in the mail when an occasion arrives.  This one was simple and quick and allowed me to use DP scraps.

Recipe
Stamps: Outlined Occasions - SU
Paper:  WW, Old Olive, Early Espress, DP
Ink:  Early Espresso, Old Olive Summer Starfruit
Accessories:  Pennant Punch, Brads, Twine

Hello Baby!

I made this card in September but forgot to post it.  It was made for a friend's sister who had just a baby girl.  It was fun and easy to make. I think I may have gotten the sketch from Splitcoast Stampers, but because silly me waiting so long to post this, I forgot many of the details.

Recipe
Stamps:  Baby Bundle, Teeny Tiny Wishes - SU
Paper:  Pretty In Pink, WW, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Early Espresso, DP
Ink:  Early Espresso
Accessories:  Nestabilities, White Gel Pen, Corner Rounder Punch, Lace Ribbon

Isaiah 26:3

I am so thankful for God and His promises that never fail.  This is one verse of many that I meditate on when I am troubled.  Trusting in God is the only way to find peace in all situations.  Often I get distracted by what is going on around me and forget that I am not alone and don't have to handle it myself.  God didn't just create the world then set it spinning and leave us to figure out life on our own.  He has always called out to us, wanting us to acknowledge Him.  He even gave us His very own Son, Jesus Christ, as the one and only perfect sacrifice to reconcile us to Himself.  If I didn't know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior I know I would be totally lost today.

This card was made using Flower Shop stamp set from SU and Scripture Collection 7 from Our Daily Bread Designs.  The sketch is from Split Coast Stampers SC 469 and the color combo I just came up with on my own.  It has been a while since I participated in a card challenge.  I hope to get back to making more cards more often.

Recipe:
Stamps: Flower Shop - SU, Isaiah 26:3 Scripture Collection 7 - ODBD
Paper:  WW, River Rock, Garden Green, Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantelope
Ink:  Strawberry Slush
Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Embossing Folder, Flower Punch, Nestabilities, Shapeabilities, Stick on Gems, Silver Beads