Meri's Inkspirations

Green and Pink Happy Birthday

2011-09-18T09:06:00.000-05:00

This is a card that uses more scraps. The bottom, green panel is embossed with the Sizzix Flowers embossing folder. Scraps from Basic Grey's Sweet Pea/Alyssa collection are layered on top, with a border cut from Spellbinders' Fleur De Lis border die. The sentiment panel is cut from Spellbinders' Fancy Tags Three Shapeabilities set. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings and the panel is bordered with Crystal Stickles. I cut the green swirl from the Basic Grey paper and used some butterfly punches to move the eye along.

Welcome Jack - Vintage Baby card

2011-09-13T20:48:00.001-05:00

One of the attorneys in my office commissioned me to make "the most beautiful baby card, customized with the name Jack". I actually gave this a try one night and came up with a result that I didn't care for at all. It certainly didn't qualify as the most beautiful baby card. I found a vintage carriage an decided to go that route. My style is decidedly not vintage, so I did some blog hopping and took some inspiration and a sketch from the Just Give Me Stamps blog where Julie does beautiful vintage work.

My card uses "solid" paper from the My Mind's Eye, 29th Street Market paper collection (Peaceful Dream - Consciousness/Dreamy paper pattern), and patterned paper from Heidi Grace Designs', Shimmer Glitter Paper, Tendril Vines. The baby carriage is Hampton Art's Carriage stamp, stamped in Burnt Umber Palette ink, and the image panel is sponged with Ballet Blue Palette ink. Because I don't usually do vintage, I had to spray some white lace, and cream ribbon with Tattered Angel's Crushed Shells spray. I stamped the ribbon with "welcome" from The Angel Company's Laughter Hostess set. I added a flower and button from Making Memories' Ava Buttons and Blossoms collection and cut out the word "Jack" from the Cricuit Platin Schoolbook cartridge.

Flower Pattern Kindness Card

2011-09-11T09:31:00.002-05:00

In my endeavors to clean up the desk by using scraps, I got side tracked. I still had the pad of Bo Bunny paper out that I used in the "Treasured Friends" posts from July. As I flipped through the pad, I saw this basically white pattern with little flowers that had been one of my favorites when I got the paper pack. I found that the perfect accents for it were black, and a light green paper that I'd never used before. This is my result. I love how the black pops the pattern right off the light green, making this one of my favorite cards in a while.

This card uses a Martha Stewart border punch on either side of the patterned paper panels. The sentiment comes from The Angel Company's Kindness stamp set. The flower was cut from Spellbindeers' Flower Creations Shapeabilities die, embossed and inked with Claret Palette ink and outlined with Crystal Stickles. The black swirl behind the flower is a partial image cut on the Cricuit using the Damask Decor cartridge.

Amberly Grace Flower for a Friend

2011-09-08T20:24:00.002-05:00

Using something several times is the surest way to remember it. So here is a third card I made using Heartfelt Creations' stamps and matching Spellbinders dies.

This card utilizes The Angel Company's Amberly Grac paper collection. The background is distressed and edged with Gingerbread Versa Magic ink. The flower is Heartfelt Creations' Innoscents Flowers chalked in blue with a glitter border. The edge design is Spellbinders' Fleur De Lis, cut, embossed and inked with Ocean Depth Versa Magic ink. The sentiment panel is cut from Spellbinders' Beaded Circles Nestabilities die, also embossed and inked with Ocean Depth Versa Magic ink. The sentiment itself is from The Angel Company's Tag Tidbits set.

Blossom Birthday

2011-09-06T20:16:00.002-05:00

This is another card I made using Heartfelt Creations stamps with matching Spellbinders dies.

This card uses The Angel Company's Juliette paper collection and matching ribbon. The background is embossed with one of Stampin' Up's Sizzix folders. The sentiment is T.A.C.'s from Trendy Greetings stamped in Burnt Umber Palette ink. The border at the bottom is a Martha Stewart border punch. The flowers are stamped from Heartfelt Creations' Flora Grande stamp set, cut with Spellbinders' Blossoms 3 Nestabilities, with a coffee ground and glitter center.

Birthday Sunflowers

2011-09-04T09:14:00.001-05:00

Last spring at the Adventures in Stamping show, I bought several stamp sets from Heartfelt Creations that had matching Spellbinders Dies for cutting them out. There was a demo at the booth that showed how to make a template to line up with the stamped image so that the cutting came out just right. I finally got a chance to play around with those stamps and die cuts.

This card is made from brown, yellow and turquoise solid papers. The turquoise panel is embossed with the Dot embossing folder by Darice. The sentiment panel and mat are cut from Spellbinders' Labels Nine Nestabilities and the flowers are Aztec Gold Sunflowers by Heartfelt Creations cut with Spellbinders' Blossom 2 Nestabilities. The flowers and sentiment panel are accented with chalk. For the centers of the flowers I used leftover, dried out, coffee grounds mixed with glitter. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set.

Tulip Spray Birthday

2011-09-01T19:48:00.001-05:00

This is another birthday card using Basic Grey Sweet Pea/Alyssa scraps from my table. The tulips are from The Angel Company's Floral Trio and the sentiment is Stamping Sensations' Thoughts Just for You #2. The tulips are colored with Copic markers RV32, RV34, G21, G24 and the ribbon is YR23.

Best Wishes in Burgundy

2011-08-30T19:30:00.001-05:00

I was doing some web surfing recently and saw a card that really inspired me, both in color and sketch. I played around with it a little bit and created something a little different.

This card uses Core'dinations cardstock with the core being lighter than the surface. I cut out two shapes on the Cricuit from the Lacy Labels cartridge (one for the panel and one for the mat), changing the size and dimension with the Gypsy. I ran the smaller piece through the Big Shot in the Cuttlebug Swirls folder and then sanded to bring out the lighter color. The scalloped circle is Nestabilities Heart Circle. The sentiment panel is stamped with a solid circle with swirl from Raisin BOAT's Symphony for the Soul stamp set, and the Best Wishes Sentiment is from The Angel Company's Rejoicing With You stamp set in Maulted Mauve Versa Magic Ink. The swirl is highlighted with a clear glitter pen and some butterflies were punched to bring the eye to the right.

A Little Whimsy Birthday

2011-08-28T10:18:00.001-05:00

I was trying to use up some scraps that were laying on my desk, in an effort to actually see the surface. One of the things I had laying on the desk was the scalloped panel I created in the spring as part of my trade for Rita's gathering. These were the ones that were made to go with the ice cream punch design I was demoing, and there were some extras left over. After looking in my collection, I thought it would be fun to match it up with some other scraps of paper from TAC's A Little Whimsy paper collection. This is what I came up with.

The cake is from TAC's Let's Party set, colored with Copic markers. The cake is E57, and E59 with frosting in R83 and R85. The candles are YG11 and YG61, and YR32 and YR38 with a hint of Orange Peel Stickles. The scalloped panel comes from the Preserves Cricuit cartridge, amended in size on the Gypsy and then run through the Cuttlebug for embossing. The right side of the card was scored on the Scor-Pal.

Hanging up the wings, but not the memories

2011-08-25T22:00:00.003-05:00

This week, The Angel Company announced that they're closing up their doors; hanging up their wings so to speak. It's a shame that so many people and small businesses have been hit so hard by this economy. I truly enjoyed my time as an angel. I loved going to seminar, meeting new people, making new friends and keeping up with old ones, getting inspired, and learning new techniques. I have made many friends through TAC, and I fully expect those friendships will continue, as will my own personal creative journey.

For anyone wondering, I have no plans to join a new direct selling company. Most people who know me, know I'm not a sales person. Monthly sales goals aren't for me, which was made TAC the perfect fit. That being said, I still plan to have Stamp With Me nights so friends can get together and have a good time and maybe get a little stamping done, and I'll still have classes and sell things I've created to supplement my obsession, because the social part was what I enjoyed most. And of course, I'll continue to post things I create to my blog.

It was a wonderful flight. Now it's time to see where the next current takes me.

Hang In There

2011-08-18T19:28:00.002-05:00

A former co-worker (who is now a client) recently got a promotion at her job. She's understandably a little nervous, since the new position has a LOT more responsibility, although I'm sure she can tackle it with flying colors. This is the card I made for her to let her know that I'm thinking of her, and that even though it's a daunting job, I know she can do it.

This card uses The Angel Company's retired Four Fab Frogs set. I colored the image panel with Copic markers. The frog is in G21, G24, G28, YR20 and YR23. The branch is E57 and E59 and the stippled sky is BG10 and BG11. The frog's eyes are also BG11. The "hang in there" sentiment is from Stamin' Up's old Mini Mates stamp set.

Black and White Wedding Card

2011-08-16T19:22:00.001-05:00

Tom and I went to one of his co-worker's wedding this weekend. This is the card I made for her and her new husband.

This card is simple black and white. The border punch at the bottom is a Martha Stewart punch. The medallion comes from the Cricuit Damask Decor cartridge and the swirls are the from the Monarch set that doesn't have a company name on the packaging. The bling at the top was added last minute, which I guess was a good addition, because it was what my husband said he liked when he saw the card.

Miscellaneous Flower Card

2011-08-14T10:16:00.001-05:00

I really liked the look of the Treasured Friend post last month, and I got lots of compliments on that card, so I decided to use the same scraps to make one that was very similar, but a little different.

This card uses Taylored Expressions' Discover Your Wings stamp set inked in Mango Madness, Jumbo Java and Hint of Pesto Versa Magic ink, laid out on a scrap of the same Bo Bunny paper used last month and accented with more Grass Green pearls.

Another Vintage Birthday Card

2011-08-11T19:04:00.001-05:00

I seem to have accumulated a lot of scraps on my craft table, so I'm trying to use some of them up. This card is made from scraps of the Basic Grey Sweetpea Alyssa paper that I used on the CBL's Vintage Birthday card post last month.

The sentiment is from Stamping Sensations, Thoughts Just for You #1 stamped in Black Momento ink, over a swirl from a clear stamping set that I got somewhere. I don't know the company name, but the name of the set appears to be Monarch. The swirl is in Sage Green Versa Magic ink. The pointed flower at the corner are stamped from a Heartfelt Creations set meant to be used with the Blossoms 2 Nestabilities and the rounded ones come from a punch. I gave them a little umph by coloring part of them with the RV95 Copic marker and adding Cinnamon Stickles to the centers. The smaller ones are edged in Jumbo Java Versa Magic ink. The ribbon is from Michael's Christmas ribbon sale bin.

50th Anniversary

2011-08-09T19:53:00.001-05:00

Last week my husband and I were lucky enough to attend his Aunt and Uncle's 50th Anniversary. It's such an inspiration to see couples that have been together for 50 years and have weathered the bad patches and celebrate the good. We had a great time. This is the card I made for them.

This card uses off-white linen paper embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder with Encore Gold Ink brushed around the edges. The medallion is from the Cricuit Damask Decor cartridge laid on a background of gold paper and stamped and heat embossed with a gold 50. There is a further band of off-white linen cut with a large Martha Stewart border punch wrapped with a shear gold ribbon.

3D Lilly

2011-08-07T09:17:00.006-05:00

It's been a busy week, so no posts, but here's something to make the wait worth while. A co-worker has had a 3D Lily card on her bulletin board for a long time, and every time I saw it, I thought, I should figure out how to do it. I finally asked her if I could borrow it, and brought it home to play with. 4 hours later, I came up with a reasonable likeness. Nothing as commercial as hers was, but still pretty cool.

The flowers and leaves are cut from the Cricuit. The leaves are from Walk in My Garden and welded together on the Gypsy. I don't remember if I picked a flower from Walk in My Garden or another cartridge. I spent a lot of time looking for the one that would work best. The flower is stippled with Sunflower and Iris Palette ink, and the leaves are Water Lilly Green. There are three flowers, one folded in half and two that are folded more and taped so they spring open when the leaves are pulled. The funny thing about it is that although it's basically the same fold, every flower ended up different, so it wasn't something I could duplicate over and over (which is part of the reason why the CBL won't be making this card).

Overall, it's still a really neat card, and I have a friend that has a penchant for cards that fold or have moving parts, so I gave it to her for her birthday.

Happily Ever After

2011-07-28T19:39:00.000-05:00

When I made the civil union card from my prior post, I actually created two cards, since I wasn't sure what kind of look my friend was going for. This was the second card I made for her to choose from (except this card originally had a blue circle cut from the same Circle Hearts Nestabilities die, and the white panel I ultimately put on the pink card, could have been layered onto the circle hearts, had it been her choice). When she chose the other one, I brought this one home, and kept thinking that it needed a castle to go with the happily ever after theme. I found this castle in a set of Disney stamps someone had given me and changed up the card to match the theme.

Vintage Birthday

2011-07-26T19:25:00.001-05:00

The Create A Bunch at Lunch group asked me for more feminine birthday cards, so this month, we did the one from my last post, and this pink and green one.

This card uses some old Basic Grey paper from the SweetPea Jack Collection that I had in my stash. I used my Cricut Gypsy to amend a label from the Lacy Labels cartridge to fit the size I wanted for the card, and cut some flowers from the Walk in My Garden cartridge as well. The sentiment panel, with the Happy Birthday greeting from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set, is layered over a pretty pink ribbon I got from Michael's on Black Friday last year when they were all 75% off.

More Tulips

2011-07-24T09:14:00.002-05:00

In a prior post, I had submitted a purple and green tulip card that I made for a friend's birthday, and said it might amend it a little bit for my Create A Bunch at Lunch group. Well, here is the amended card.

This card uses cheery red and yellow. The white background panel is sprayed with a yellow watercolor mist. The flowers are stamped with The Angel Company's retired Dancing Tulips stamp. The flowers are stamped in Pearlescent Poppy Brilliance ink, and the leaves are Pearlescent Thyme Brilliance ink. This time I stamped them more in the middle of the card, and placed a ribbon directly below the flowers. Stamping the flowers in the middle left room at the bottom for the Happy Birthday sentiment from The Angel Company's Ordinary Greetings stamp set.

Pink and Green Flower Card

2011-07-21T19:08:00.003-05:00

This is a card I made for a friend's birthday, before I came up with another one that I thought suited her better.

This card uses some scraps of Colorbok's Baby Girl Stripes that I had left over from some unconventional Christmas cards I did last year (and never got to post because things were so crazy). The image panel is stamped with The Angel Company's retired Fanciful Flowers stamp. The leaves and stems are in Versa Magic Sage ink and the flowers use the rock n roll technique and Versa Magic Pixie Dust darkened with Pink Grapefruit ink and highlighted with Crystal Stickles. I also found that Paper Trey's New Leaf Ribbon matches exactly with Queen & Company's Grass Green pearls.

Civil Union Card

2011-07-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

One of my friends from the office commissioned me to create a civil union card for a ceremony she was attending this week. She figured it would give me a challenge and it would provide her with a card she was unlikely to find in a shop. The one qualification I had was that it had to be sized properly to hold money.

This is the card I came up with. It uses both sides of some double-sided K & Co. paper I had in my stash. I also got a chance to use one of my newer Martha Stewart border punches, and the Heart Circles Nestabilities dies. I used my Cricut to cut two engagement rings from the Wedding/Marriage cartridge.

Sweet Pea Garden Card

2011-07-17T09:54:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite attorneys in my office had a big birthday the other day. Her assistant was making a big deal out of it with a gift on the 15th of each month preceding the actual birthday on July 15th, things like a gift certificate to get her nails done one month, and flowers on another. I don't remember what all. She wanted to culminate it with cards from everyone in the office. This is the card I made for her.

It uses Paper Trey's Sweat Pea stamp colored with Copic markers. The flowers are RV02 and RV04, the leaves are G21 and G24 and the background is B0000, B00. All of which is blended with the colorless 0 Blender which was laid down before the coloring began on each section. The green paper is from a St. Patrick's Day collection that a friend gave me, and the border is punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

The inside of the cards uses a sentiment from DRS and a scrap of the green paper punched again with the Martha Stewart border punch.

Purple Wedding Card

2011-07-14T19:49:00.004-05:00

One of my co-workers got married recently, so I made this card. It's a little strange to me, because I usually use wedding images, or black and white for weddings, but this one seemed to need something very quick, with color.

The background is stamped with The Angel Company's Damask Backgrounder stamp in Lavender Sachet Palette ink, and the sentiment panel uses my new Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2 dies that I got for my birthday. The sentiment is from TAC's retired Elegant Greetings set.

I made the card the night before I needed it, and took the picture in the copy room at work, so the lighting is horrible.

Just A Note

2011-07-12T19:37:00.003-05:00

I had some fun just playing a little and came up with this card that uses the Quarter Note Cricut cartridge and music note border punch I got for my birthday. I layered these on top of a grey panel that was embossed with the Allegro Cuttlebug embossing folder and a sentiment panel cut from Spellbinders Labels 2 dies which I stippled with Malted Mauve Versa Magic ink and stamped with The Angel Company's Flourishes stamp set and Just a Note from their Trendy Greetings stamp set.

Happy Birthday to a Trasured Friend!

2011-07-09T10:16:00.002-05:00

This is a card I made for a friend whose birthday I didn't forget, but I was traveling that day and I didn't call or even text. I know, bad friend! But we were able to get together recently and I gave her this card then.

It uses Bo Bunny paper as the background and a scrap of pumpkin that I had in my scrap bin (I'm trying more and more to use those scraps up). The image panel is stamped with a partial image from Taylored Expressions' Discover Your Wings set inked with Hint of Pesto, Sea Breeze, Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread Versa Magic ink. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's retired Here's To You stamp set, and fit the space perfectly. The image panel is accented with a few Grass Green pearls.

Dancing Tulips

2011-07-06T18:37:00.003-05:00

This is a quick and easy card a made for a friend for her birthday. In fact, it's quick enough that I may use a variation of it for the Create a Bunch Club this month.

I was basically able to use scraps I had on hand for the green and purple layers. The image panel is stamped with The Angel Company's retired Dancing Tulips stamp set using Versa Magic Aloe Vera for the stems and combining Spring Pansy and Purple Hydrangea for the flowers. It seemed too empty at the top, so I added some lavender pearls to try to fill it out.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T07:57:00.001-05:00

This is a card I made from a sketch on Heather Scott's blog, Oz-somestamps.

The card uses the same American flag paper that I used in the Kindergarten graduation card. Truth be told, I made this card first, and then used the scraps to make the graduation card. This one was quick and easy to put together with the accent of the stars and oval left over from my gypsy cutting a while back ago.

Happy Anniversary

2011-07-02T17:25:00.001-05:00

Tom and I have some friends that share our anniversary (today), albeit a few years later. Every year I try to make them a 4th of July themed anniversary card. This is the card I came up with this year.

The paper is Patriotic Burst from The Paper Studio coupled with stamped stars from Stampin' Up's old Stars and Swirls stamp set and a sentiment from The Angel Company's retired Greetings stamp set. I used a scrap of blue paper, punched with the Fiskar's Treading Water border punch with punched out red stars glued to each of the scallops.

Our friends are coming down from Milwaukee to have dinner with us at The House of Blues Foundation Room and should be en route now. Hopefully she hasn't looked at my blog on her smart phone during the ride down.

Kindergarten Graduation Card

2011-06-30T19:23:00.001-05:00

We were invited to a shared graduation party last weekend for a girl exiting 8th grade and one that completed kindergarten. For the younger girl, I made the following card.

The bear comes from The Angel Company's retired Birthday Bear stamp set. To make it graduation worthy I drew in the cap and the diploma, which was an awesome suggestion given to me by my Create A Bunch at Lunch group.

The bear is colored with Copic Markers E: 25, 29 and 35 and the red is R24 and 27 and the shadow is C1. The border on the side is a Fiskars punch, Treading Water, and I used a star button punch to punch stars where the original circles were.

Floral Stripe Birthday

2011-06-28T19:49:00.003-05:00

Once I played with the sketch of the thrifty stripe masculine birthday card, I decided to use the same technique to use up some floral scraps and make a birthday card.

This one uses scraps from The Angel Company's Whimsy Blossom paper collection, with a flower cut on the Cricut from the Walk In My Garden cartridge out of TAC's Mia's Cottage paper. The sentiment is from the retired Wishing You stamp set.

Miranda

2011-06-26T10:37:00.001-05:00

This card is one I made with my new Whiff of Joy stamp, Miranda. I made the card because I felt like coloring, but the image was so big, I wasn't sure how I was going to like it. I matched it up to some scraps I had of The Angel Company's A Little Whimsy collection and once it was finished, it turned out to be one of my favorites. When it took it into The Art House for the sale rack, the owner there really liked it too. In fact, I think she might have bought it for herself right after I left. If it's there when I stop in next time, I'll be surprised.

Miranda is colored with Copics (of course) Skin: E000, E00, E01, Jeans: B00, B01, B02, Shirt: R83 and R85, Flowers: RV23, RV25 and RV29 (with Crystal Lacquer on top of the flowers to give them some dimension), Leaves and Grass: YG11, YG61 and YG63, Headband: V20 and V25, Hair: E23, E25, E27 and E29 and Wings C00 and C01.

Floral Birthday Card

2011-06-23T20:25:00.003-05:00

This is a card I made just so I could have some birthday cards on hand. The paper is from The Angel Company's Whimsy Blossoms paper collection with some generic ribbon I had on hand. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set, stamped on a panel made with the Labels 20 Nestabilities set, and stippled with green and then edged with a Copic marker. I used some pearls that I got at the convention in Ohio in April.

What's Up Chick?

2011-06-21T19:13:00.001-05:00

This chick notecard was the second project we made at my Create-A-Bunch-At-Lunch class in May, and was one of the items on my display board at Rita's gathering. I saw it on Splitcoast Stampers around Easter time, but thought it would be fun with sayings like "Shake Those Tail Feathers", "Chick, Chick Hooray" or "Honey, You're No Spring Chicken" from The Angel Company's Tail Feathers stamp set.

The note card is made with two large scalloped circles stapled together in the upper right corner, and two 5-point flowers. One covers the staple, and the other is cut to make the feet and beak. The eyes are made from two white 5/8 inch circles and one yellow 5/8 inch circle cut in half for the eyelids. The pupils are from one of those old hand punches that were once considered "office supplies".

Rock Star Card for Father's Day

2011-06-19T09:05:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's out there.

This is another masculine card that we created during the Create-A-Bunch club this month. This card uses strips of paper from The Angel Company's Just Like Dad paper collection surrounded by various sized stars cut with the Cricut. Both of the solid green stars are scored and popped up for some dimension and interest. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions My Hero stamp set.

Thrifty Masculine Stripe Card

2011-06-16T19:58:00.002-05:00

This card came from the idea I saw on the Poetic Artistry blog, which in turn came from Verve's Mojo Monday sketch challenge. I thought it was a great way to use up extra scraps, and since I've been using a lot of The Angel Company's Just Like Dad paper, had lots of scraps.

This card uses four 1-inch wide strips of paper rounded at the end and edged with Spanish Olive Versa Magic Ink. I used one of the extra stars I cut with the Gypsy for the focal point, and I scored the star so that it would look popped up (which it is). The sentiment is from The Angel Company's retired Wishing You stamp set.

Masculine Birthday Card

2011-06-14T20:35:00.005-05:00

This is a masculine card I prepared for our Create-A-Bunch club. I found the paper at Pat Catan's in Ohio when I visited in April and thought it would be perfect with large eyelets. This is also the card that uses the oval from the George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge amended with the Gyspy that I mentioned in my post on Saturday so that it would fit into the Spellbinders Fancy Tags die.

The ribbon is from Michael's, the eyelets are Antique Brass that I got through The Angel Company and the sentiment is from The Angel Company's Thinking of You stamp set.

In case you were wondering, this is what the unaltered oval from George and Basic Shapes looked like.

Best Dad

2011-06-12T12:28:00.006-05:00

This is a card I made for the Taylored Expressions sketch challenge this week.

My card uses The Angel Company's Just Like Dad paper collection, and Taylored Expression's Boys Will Be Boys stamp set.

Finally got my Gypsy to work!

2011-06-11T19:33:00.004-05:00

I'm so excited! I got a Gypsy for Christmas (to go with my Cricut), and only this week got it to work. Partly because I didn't have any time to devote to it, but mostly because every time I started, I got frustrated because the manual writers knew too well how the product worked by the time they wrote the manual, and are forgetting that most of us that have purchased the product have no idea how to make it work. I had lots of trouble with vague wording like "Cricut device" as used in "plug the Cricut device into the computer". My assumption was that Cricut device is the Cricut cutter (since I knew that had to be updated), but they meant Gypsy. When I wrote technical support to ask, and to say that no combination of cords seemed to work to plug the Cricut cutter into the computer, I got these wonderful trouble shooting tips: "plug the go into the wall, and then plug the g into the computer" What????? I can only assume that they didn't feel like writing out the word Gypsy, so they used "g", except that the second word in the sentence was supposed to mean "g" for Gyspy, not go.

When I finally figured out that the Gypsy was what was supposed to be plugged into the computer the direction was "when on the welcome screen, plug the Gypsy to the computer". Except that apparently when you have a new Gypsy, you have two welcome screens. The first is where you calibrate the machine with the stylus and then accept the terms and conditions. Then there's a second welcome screen that you get every time you turn the Gypsy on after that. So since I hadn't done anything with the machine except turn it on and plug it into the computer, without calibrating the stylus or getting the next screen, my computer kept saying it "couldn't find the device". After I accidentally bumped the Gypsy and went through he calibration and acceptance, the computer was able to find the device just fine from the second welcome screen. Ugh!

But now it works, and I have spent a little time playing with it. I created pages of stars for some cards we were going to make in the CBL class, without wasting a bunch of paper (outside of the fact that I got more stars than I needed, so you'll probably see lots of cards with stars in the next bunch of posts. Good thing it's getting near to Fourth of July.)

My favorite thing though was changing the shape of the oval that came with the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. I got the Spellbinders Fancy Tags die cut set, and found that I didn't have an oval that would go inside the one tag. I was able to change the shape of the oval to match the tag (.85 inches wide by 1.75 high). Very cool! I will have to play with it more, but now that I got it set up, I love it!

We all Punch? for Ice Cream!

2011-06-10T22:37:00.006-05:00

Last month, I went to Rita Kegg's awesome Angelic Impressions gathering. Rita created all kinds of projects for us to do, from simple and quick cards, to things that took a little more time, but were still easy enough. We spent two creative days at beautiful Punderson Manor in Ohio, and this was the first time I've ever attended any gathering where I finished all the projects before I left!

Before the gathering, I told Rita that I would do a demonstration on punch art. I created a display board of several ideas, and then demonstrated three things. One of the things I demonstrated was an ice cream sundae in a bowl. I made an ATC card to be traded that was blank, and after the demonstration, everyone made their own ice cream to put on it, and Rita incorporated the ATC into one of the cards we made.

But even before that, I created this card that my Create-A-Bunch-At-Lunch class made.

Here are the pieces you need to punch out to make the ice cream sundae: a 1 1/2 inch circle with a crescent punched out of it by the same punch for the bowl, 2 pink 5/8 inch circles, 2 white 5/8 inch circles, 1 light brown 5/8 inch circle and 1 dark brown 5/8 inch circle. The toppings are made by putting three of the 5/8 inch circles a little more than half way into a scalloped square punch and punching. Chirstmas Red Stickles were used to make the cherries.

The circle surrounding the sundae is a Nestability die, the background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, and the sentiment is from Taylored Expressions, stamped in Noir Palette ink.

This is the card Rita created for the gathering made from my ATC trading card.

Check back later for more punch art ideas from my display board.

Mother's Day Flowers

2011-06-07T19:44:00.001-05:00

This is the card I created for my Create-A-Bunch Club to make for Mother's Day. My sample also used the Rock 'N Roll technique, but because we were running short on time, they didn't bother re-inking the edges with darker colors. My inspiration for this card came from a t-shirt I saw at Kohl's.

All stamped supplies on this card are made with products from The Angel Company and all ink is Versa Magic. The lightest layer of the card background is the Damask Backgrounder stamp using Wheat ink with Sage as the edging; the second background layer uses Script Background inked with Perfect Plumeria ink; the greenery below the flowers is from the Be of Good retired hostess set, stamped in Hint of Pesto and the flowers are from the retired Fanciful Flowers set inked with Maulted Mauve with the edges rolled in Perfect Plumeria. The Happy Mother's Day sentiment is from the Trendy Greetings stamp set and is inked in Hint of Pesto.

I think this card has the most stamping layers of any card I've ever done, and is the closest I'll get to collage, since I usually don't pull collage off very well.

Rock 'N Roll Technique on Thank You Card

2011-06-05T19:31:00.001-05:00

This is a card I made using the rock 'n roll technique, where you load up your stamp with a lighter colored ink, and then use a second, darker, ink around the edges. This card shows the technique particularly well since I used a light blue ink for the interior and a brow ink for the edge.

This card did double duty. I used it as my project for the Madison Mingle in March and then again with my Create-A-Bunch Club in April.

The card uses The Angel Company's Damask Backgrounder stamp and the sentiment is from the Thinking of You set. The ink is Versa Magic Sea Breeze and Gingerbread.

Little Art Girl

2011-06-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

In March, a friend and I went to Ohio to visit another friend and attend the Adventures in Stamping Expo. We did LOTS of shopping and took some classes, and I helped my friends prepare for the Copic class they were giving. Amazingly enough, we also had some time to play. Not a lot, but at least a little.

While we were playing, I stamped off this image from one of my friends' stamps and colored her in. This girl reminds me of so many I know, including myself, that love to sit and draw. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the image over all, perhaps nothing. I may just keep her in my art room as a reminder.

My little art girl is colored with Copic markers. her hair is E27, E25 & E23, her skin is E00, E000, E0000 & E11, the jeans are B34, B37 and B00 with the the colorless blender 00 to lighten, the cuffs are B34 & B91, her shoes are C3, C5, C7 & C9, the shadows are C00 and C02 and the pencils and cup are Y35, and &38.

In Honor of Our Military

2011-05-30T09:43:00.005-05:00

I was playing with some papers this weekend to create some masculine cards for my CBL Club. One of the paper collections I was looking at was The Angel Company's Just Like Dad paper. I had a general idea in mind, and was just putting the papers together. I gave my husband the choice of several and one he picked was a camouflage paper, because he was in military mode. When I started making the card, the camo paper didn't really work, so I didn't use it. But since we were both thinking of our military, I made this card with the camo paper instead.

The stamp is one my Mom got for me from a Stamping Up party. It's colored with copic markers. Skin: E000, E00 & E01. Uniform: YG11, YG13 & YG93, Water: BOO & B95, Flag: B95 & R24. When I put it next to the paper, the colored panel looked a little too bright, so I toned it down by stippling Tim Holtz's Vintage Photo Distress Ink on it.

Another Simple Sympathy

2011-05-28T10:03:00.003-05:00

I like making simple sympathy cards because that just seems to be what's called for. This is the second card we made in the Create-A-Bunch Club in February to offset the more elaborate wine card. Unfortunately, I needed to use this card right away when my boss lost his mother.

All of the components of this card use The Angel Company products. The paper on the left border is from the Maggie paper collection, the leaves on the lower right are from the Deco Designs stamp set, stamped in Versa Magic Aloe Vera ink and the sentiment is from Savvy Sayings.

Friends are Like Wine

2011-05-25T18:50:00.004-05:00

I got the inspiration for this card while blog hopping. It's completely different from the card I originally saw except for the colors and loosely, the sketch. The card I saw used flowers, but I immediately thought wine, so I played around and came up with this.

I used the card for the Create-A-Bunch Club and it's been one of the most popular to date.

The purple and green panels of the card use some old double-sided Paper Adventures paper and the brown strip is from The Angel Company's Amberly Grace collection. The grapes are from The Angel Company's retired Fancy Fruit two-step stamping set, using Versa Magic Concord Grape (what else?) ink and Palette Jardin Moss. The sentiment is from Stamping Sensations' Thoughts Just for You #1 set stamped in Palette Noir and Charcoal ink. The purple background is textured with the Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug embossing folder and the ovals use both the Nestabilities Large and Small Oval sets combined to make the border layer smaller.

Pretty Lillies

2011-05-22T09:10:00.005-05:00

This is a card I made a few months ago, when I just felt like coloring. The stamps are Stamping Sensations Botanical Collection #1. I used Copic markers to color the image, but I didn't write down the numbers this time. The ribbon is from The Angel Company's Mimi collection, and has been accented with some Gold Stickles.

My mom saw the card right after I made it and wanted it for a friend, so it was put to good use even before this post.

Bring on the Purses

2011-04-20T19:25:00.001-05:00

To kick off the year for my Create-A-Bunch at Lunch club, we made purses to hold all the cards that we would be making during the year. Initially we were going to do this in January, but since the January date snuck up on me, we pushed it back until February's class.

I learned how to make these purses from Rita Kegg last spring. They're nice and sturdy, and are perfect for holding a bunch of cards.

This time, instead of showing you my sample, we decided to take pictures of the completed projects the club made. Everyone chose their paper ahead of time and I cut it for them and brought it in on the day of the class. All of the purses have unique personalities, and the girls were pretty excited to have their work featured on the blog. Unfortunately, the initial class was a small one, and when I did the repeat for the others, I forgot to take pictures. So you're only getting to see the creativity of about a third of my group.

A Little Bubbly

2011-04-17T20:03:00.001-05:00

On the train on the way home the other day, I was talking to one of the girls from my Create-A-Bunch at Lunch class. She was talking about how a friend of hers was doing a church retreat, and about how she was supposed to write a "note of encouragement" for her to read while she was there. We got to talking about how nice it is to receive a random uplifting note. Then we were saying, wouldn't it be nice if we sent some of the cards we made during lunch to each other just as a pick-me-up, to tell the others in the group "you rock!".

Almost the next day, one of the other girls from our lunch club was talking about how she thought she was going to finish this huge project that really had her stretched to her limit, and about how she was so ready to go home and get drunk when it was all done. So I made her this card to congratulate her on completing her project and to say I recognized how hard she worked on it, and could sympathize, having just finished a few of those types of projects myself recently.

This card uses stamps I got in a stamp store in Wichita, Kansas. I remember loving the champagne bottle as soon as I saw it, but it's managed to sit in my stash unused until now. The bottle is colored with Copic markers. The bottle is G24, G28 and G29, the label is E40 and E41 and the top is E51, E53 and E55. The background is stamped in Charcoal Palette ink, and then stippled with the very fittingly titled, Champagne Encore ink.

Natural Hope Sympathy Card

2011-04-13T19:23:00.004-05:00

This is another card I made using leftover scraps of Maggie paper. The background is embossed with the Paisley Spellbinders Impressabilities embossing template. The stamp sets are The Angel Company's retired Natural Hope set inked with VersaMagic Pink Petunia ink, and the sentiment is stamped in Palette Charcoal ink with words from the current With Sympathy set.

Relax and Unwind

2011-04-09T20:04:00.003-05:00

After all that work I did during the past six months was mostly past, my husband treated me to a massage. (Isn't he the best?). The massage place we go to, Unwind Massages, is a little mom and pop place that's been having difficulty, like just about everyone else is right now, so I thought I'd make them a card they could put on the front desk as a testimonial.

This card used scraps of The Angel Company's Maggie paper that I had left over from making my March Create-A-Bunch cards, the Fundamental Frames stamp set that coordinates with Nestabilities Labels 4, with a sentiment from the retired Here's To You set.

The girls were tickled that I made them a card.

Elegant Thank You

2011-04-06T21:43:00.001-05:00

For my second card for the Create-A-Bunch group in January, I also used an idea I saw on Eva's blog, but this time, I made several changes to it, so that it hardly resembles the original except for the initial sketch.

This card uses the Damask Backgrounder and Running Stitches stamp sets from The Angel Company and the retired Great Greetings set. The paper is from Paper Pizazz.

Eva Costigan to the rescue

2011-04-02T21:21:00.008-05:00

I've been working A LOT recently. We've had projects going non-stop since November that have had me at work until late almost every night. During this time, I was also still hosting my Create-A-Bunch Lunch with the girls. In January, the date snuck up on me, and I had to put something together quickly. I did some blog hopping and found a quick and easy card done by Eva. I unabashedly stamp-lifted it completely for the class.

This card used C'ordinations cardstock and The Angel Company's Linear Sentiments stamp set for the heart, and the retired Wishing You set for the sentiment.

Once things calmed down a little bit, I went back and used the leftovers from the class to make a set of four cards using the same stamp set (for the most part - the "You Rock" is from The Angel Company's retired Kid Praises set), card sketch and pieces. But, I used different border punches and punched elements to make them all different. Then I took the set into work to show everyone how the same idea can be used to make cards for different occasions. Hopefully this redeems me for copying the original.

Simple Sympathy

2010-10-21T18:16:00.002-05:00

I ran out of sympathy cards for my bin at work, so I made this one up quickly to replenish. The butterfly is from Taylored Expressions Discover Your Wings stamp set, and was stamped and stamped-off in Tim Holtz Victorian Velvet Distress Ink. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's With Sympathy stamp set, and was cut out using Nestabilities Labels Nine.

Angelee Missing You Card

2010-10-19T20:53:00.001-05:00

This is a card I made using a scrap and a tag from The Angel Company's Angelee Paper Collection. I had cut a butterfly from the tag to use on another card, and then used the tag with the butterfly cut-out as the focal point of this card. The cream paper from the Mimi cardstock pack, stamped with the Decorative Corners stamp set in Sahara Sand VersaMagic ink was used as a backer for the opening in the tag, and also as the base of the card. The tag is tied on with ribbon from the Amberly Grace coordinating ribbon pack and the simple sentiment comes from the Trendy Greetings stamp set.

Magnolia Wedding Card

2010-10-17T07:47:00.000-05:00

This card is the wedding card I made for the bride and groom from one of my earlier posts. We were supposed to attend the wedding, but there was a perfect storm of things happening that night. It was a Friday, and there was a big storm that delayed all the trains home from work. Once that passed, and we got home, our car broke down on the way to the reception. Fortunately, the bride was able to move from place to place between storms and didn't get wet; we just didn't get to see her in her beautiful gown, and had to give her her card later.

This card wasn't nearly as fast as the one from my previous post, but it is one I'm really proud of. This is my first time coloring a black image, and for that matter, a white image, with Copic markers.

The tux was colored using C1, 3, 5, 7 & 9, and the Ivory on the wedding dress is E40 and 41.

The stamp is the wedding couple from Magnolia.

Had Fun Stamping

2010-10-14T19:44:00.002-05:00

For quite a while now, I've mentioned that I was able to go to my friend, Chelsea's, house to stamp at the beginning of August. This is a card I made to say thanks for having me.

This card uses The Angel Company's Skinny Birds stamp set, stamped on some yellow velvet paper I had in my scrap bin paired with the Miss Moxie paper collection. The sentiment is from Ordinary Greetings. It was a fun and cheery card to make.

Welcome New Angel

2010-10-12T19:04:00.003-05:00

Last month I had a new angel sign up under me, and I know she likes the look of Copic markers. So to welcome her, I made this card using The Angel Company's Wonder and Joy stamp set and our new Emma paper. The girl is colored with Copic markers: Hair and pants - E51, E53 & E55, Top - R22, R24 & R27. Skin - E0000, E000, E00 and E01 and the flower pot and seat under her are R89 with the blender. The background shape is cut with Nestabilities Labels Three and is the reverse side of the flowered paper. The sentiment on the tag from the Emma collection is from Tag Tidbits. There are a few accents with Cinnamon Stickles and ribbon from the Hemmingway collection.

Elegant Core'dinations Cards

2010-10-10T10:34:00.001-05:00

In keeping with the theme of sanding at my recent Create A Bunch at Lunch group, we made this elegant cards using Core'dinations new Core Amour collection. It already has the embossing printed on it, so you can use it as texture, or you can sand it to show the pattern in the core color. This made for exceptionally fast and easy cards. We simply sanded the paper to show the core color, stamped the sentiment using The Angel Company's retired Elegant Greetings stamp set, added a ribbon and some gems colored brown with Copic markers.

Core'dinations Thinking of You Card

2010-10-07T19:18:00.001-05:00

Core'dinations is one of my favorite paper companies for solid (sort of) papers. They are one color on the surface, and a different color at the core. Kind of like white core paper, but with color instead.

I love using dry embossing techniques on my Core'dinations papers to get texture and then sanding to see the core color, but this time I tried something different. I used my Nestabilities Labels 8 to cut a panel out of a piece of Core'dinations' Pie Safe paper from the White Wash collection. Then I lightly sanded around the edge to bring out the core color and stamped the flowers and leaves from The Angel Company's Watercolor Plants stamp set using Tea Leaves and Perfect Plumeria VersaMagic ink. The sentiment, from Great Greetings, was added with Jumbo Java VersaMagic ink and a small dragonfly was punched out for the corner. The whole panel was laid on top of a white texturized card.

My Create a Bunch group made this as one of two cards featuring Core'dinations paper this month.

Slightly Offensive Hedgehogs

2010-10-05T18:58:00.001-05:00

As I said in some prior posts, I didn't go to seminar this year, but I did get a chance to have some of that seminar fun when I visited my friend Chelsea in Rockford at the beginning of August. My husband's band, Slightly Offensive, was playing a private party in Rockford, and I contacted Chelsea and asked if she'd be free to stamp that day. She invited me over to her house and showed me all the projects and stamp sets that the attendees to seminar got this year, and shared some of the fun stories as well. One was about a discussion of the hedgehogs in TAC's Oh Happy Day stamp set from Page 54 of the catalogue. Someone pointed out that the leaf of the flower the male hedgehog is giving the female hedgehog was drawn in such a way that you would have to be sure to color it green, otherwise it might look like a hedgehog appendage. Barb Foster then dared Chelsea to create some cards using the hedgehogs and not coloring the leaf green (if you know what I mean). The result was a blog post from Chelsea that put me in a fit of giggles. I can't believe I missed it when it was posted originally. Chelsea and I had so much fun laughing over that post that I was inspired to create a few risque hedgehogs of my own. I colored them at Chelsea's and then brought them home to make cards with. Mine can't hold a candle to hers, but they were still lots of fun to make.

Growing Love

This card I titled while I was still at Chelsea's. The hedgehogs are colored with Copic markers. He is V-12, V-15 & V-17, and she is V-06 and V-09. The glowing background is Y00. The flower is also colored with V-09 to match. The image panel is cut with Nestabilities Small Labels and the shadow is from Large Labels. I embossed flowers into the purple panel at the bottom and highlighted with Crystal Stickles. The sentiment is printed on the computer.

I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Drawn That Way

This pair is colored with Copic colors E71 and 74 for him, and E43 and 44 for her. Her cheeks and bow are colored with RV32 and the flowers are colored with Y38. The background and tag are from the Woodrowe Keepsake Album Kit. I cut the hedgehogs with the Labels 2 Nestabilities, and typed up the saying on the computer. The question mark is from The Angel Company's Simple-Bet and is gone over in Cinnamon Stickles, which I also used to accent the rest of the card.

P.S. My husband informed me that he named the hedgehog "Woody".

Purple and Green Polkadot Halloween Card

2010-10-03T09:10:00.001-05:00

This is the second card I've made using the cobweb legs from the Spiders are Seen stamp set by The Angel Company. My inspiration for this one was the ribbon that I got from Michael's during the after-Christmas clearance sale, but the purple and green make it ideal for Halloween cards, and it matches TAC's Angelee paper collection perfectly. The bottom panel is punched with an EK Success border punch so that the paper below shows through. Then I took the punched out circles and glued them to the side panel.

Happy Birthday Sweetie

2010-09-30T19:22:00.002-05:00

Today is my husband's birthday and I made this card for him. I was even prepared, and made it well before we moved so I would be sure that it didn't get put off and become last minute. This card uses Taylored Expression's You're My Hero stamp set and my Stars Nestabilities. The paper is from The Angel Company's Cha Cha collection. I still can't believe that it's only $4.95 a pack.

The bottom panel was made using the Running Water Fiskar's border punch, and then I went in and punched small stars our in each scallop to match the theme. Even the Nestabilities stars are something special. They're popped up and three dimensional. I learned about making the stars pop from someone else's blog a while back ago when I was blog hopping, and hadn't had a chance to use it until this card, but I really like the effect.

Batty Good

2010-09-28T18:56:00.002-05:00

This card is made using The Angel Company's Batty Good stamp set. I just think these guys are so cute, and this card came together rather quickly once I had the sketch idea.

The bats are colored with Copic markers C5, C7 and C9 and the moon is colored with YR21, YR 23 & YR24. I traced around them and cut them out by hand. I punched a hole out of the orange paper with the Super Jumbo Clever Lever punch and nestled the bats up to the cut-out. The ribbon came from Target's $1 section last fall and went perfectly with the self-stick black rhinestones a friend introduced me to. Everything was a little too clean, so I stippled some black ink around the edges of the orange.

Quick Thank You

2010-09-26T08:12:00.001-05:00

While in the process of moving, my friend Sue's husband, Mike Vanderwalker, did us the favor of reading and explaining our survey to us. Mike has been a surveyor for years, and pointed out some things that we should address before the move so as not to cause problems later on. To show our appreciation, I made this card for him to go with a little gift card that we picked up.

Since we're in the middle of moving, I was limited to supplies and came up with this quick card using The Angel Company's Aged Ornaments stamp set to make all of the pattern in the card. Then I added some Christmas Red Stickles as accents with a little red ribbon, and a small sentiment panel using the Thinking of You set and a small scrap of red paper.

Halloween Witch

2010-09-23T19:59:00.002-05:00

This is another card I made when I was playing with The Angel Company's Spiders are Seen stamp set last week. The image panel is colored with Copic markers YG03, YG06, YR08, Y17 and BV08. I went over the dress and made the buttons on the boots with the colored (not clear) Stardust Glittering Pens to give it some shine. The image panel was cut using Nestabilities Labels Three dies, with a Giga Scalloped square in between to give it a different look. The right corners were punched with Martha Stewart's Bat corner punch, and some patterned paper and buttons I had lying around were used to complete the left-hand side.

TE Blast From the Past Blog Hop - Watercolor Flowers

2010-09-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

For the second time, I get a chance to participate in Taylored Expressions' Monthly Blast from the Past Blog Hop.

This is a card that my Create a Bunch group made during lunch in our July class (yes, I'm actually that far behind in posting). For this one, we used the Discover Your Wings stamp set. This is a very versatile set, filled with flowers, butterflies, dragonflies and sentiments. For our card, we used watercolor crayons as our only coloring medium (with the exception of black ink for the sentiment).

The background is made from scribbling on an acrylic block with yellow and orange watercolor crayons, spritzed with water and smeared on damp paper. Then we colored on the rubber stamp with the watercolor crayons and spritzed the stamp to activate the paint and stamped. For a finishing touch we added some Stardust Clear Gelly Pen (far and away the classes favorite embellishment tool) to the flowers and some punched butterflies.

To see what stamp sets other bloggers used, click on the links below:

Happy browsing.

Sweet Peas

2010-09-19T09:43:00.001-05:00

Here is one of the cards I made when I was visiting Chelsea last month. I did all of the coloring at her house, and then had one big bout of stamper's block when I brought it home to make into the actual card. Fortunately for me, the retirement card from my last post seemed to have cured the stamper's block and also provided me with the perfect background paper for the image.

The stamp is from Papertrey Ink that I picked up when I went to the CHA consumer show, and has made me somewhat of a convert. When I was talking to someone about acrylic stamps and how I have so much trouble with them, and much prefer rubber stamps that use the cling-mount system, she said that she felt the same way, and that Papertrey was one of the very few companies she felt made acrylic stamps that gave quality images when stamped. Now that I've tried them, I have to say I agree. So, while I am sure that I won't prefer acrylic stamps over all to real rubber, I have at least found a company that makes some acrylic stamps that make a good impression.

Now back to the card credits. The stamp is Papertrey's Year of Flowers: Sweat Peas set, colored with Copic markers: RV10, RV13, Y0000, Y11, YG11 & YG13. The green pattern behind the image panel is from DCWV's The Blossoms & Butterflies Stack that my friend Yuki gave me when she visited in July, and the background is the Core'dinations Garden Gate paper from the Whitewash collection. I added a little pink ribbon and some gems to the top and bottom to balance it out a bit.

Pink and Green Retirement Card

2010-09-16T19:27:00.001-05:00

One of the girls from work is retiring, so I was asked to make a large card for the group to sign. For this one, I pulled out my left-over paper from the Mother's Day card my stamp group did in April.

Both of the greens are Core'dinations' Garden Gate paper from the Whitewash collection, just a utilization of each side of the paper, and the pattern is Brooke Paisley from Making Memories' Simply Fabulous collection. The swirl is stamped in Chartreuse Palette Ink with The Angel Company's Fancy Curls stamp set and sparkled-up with the Clear Gelly Pen. Since I don't have any retirement sentiments, I typed one up on the computer and cut it out and added weight to it with some gems.

Spooky Sketch

2010-09-14T18:30:00.004-05:00

I was blog hopping over the weekend, and got another chance to participate in a sketch challenge over at Taylored Expressions blog. This stamp is another one from The Angel Company's Spiders Are Seen stamp set. I've been having so much fun with it. It was a very easy card to make. I just used a bunch of 1 x 2 pieces of paper from TAC's retired Simply Spooky paper collection that I had in my scrap bin, and the Marth Stewart spiderwebs border punch. The whole thing was very quick and easy.

Spiders are Seen

2010-09-12T09:45:00.004-05:00

This is the first card I've made using The Angel Company's Spiders are Seen stamp set. The purple spiderweb paper is left over from last year's stash of paper, and the green is from TAC's Angelee paper collection. The webs in the stamped image are highlighted with clear glitter pen to mimic the paper, and the legs are colored with Copic Markers G21 and V17. I punched the spiderweb borders with the Martha Stewart spiderweb border punch, and added a splash with some polka-dot ribbon and a few gems that I colored with the V17 Copic marker.

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL???? - Card for a Cowboys (Tony Romo) Fan

2010-09-09T18:40:00.002-05:00

Today kicks off the beginning of football season. Tom has been having withdrawals and is VERY excited about football starting up again. My friend Connie and I are looking forward to football too. We don't root for the same team, but that's what makes it even more fun. Connie is a BIG Tony Romo fan, so to kick off the season, I decided to make her a little pin.

I used the Star Nestabilities dies to cut stars in various sizes for the pin. I drew around one set with a White Gelly Pen just like in the logo. Then I laminated the pin by cutting a large star our of a heat-set laminating sheet and running it through my laminator. I put a pinback on it, and it's ready to go.

The card is made pretty much the same way. I started with a large piece of paper and scored it into three equal parts. For the front, I folded one piece over the other and cut a star out of both pieces, so you could see into the center of the inside of the card. Then I ran a piece of brown paper through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder and cut two pieces into the shape of a football. I placed these two pieces back to back and adhered with a piece of fishing line in between them. Then I added some white paper to the ends and drew on the laces. The whole football is suspended in the middle of the star on the front cover with the fishing line (and if you twist the fishing line before closing the card, it will spin when the card opens, so it looks like a football thrown in a spiral (although in slow motion). Petty cool. The pin is stuck into the inside of the card (with a hole cut out so the pinback goes through the back and doesn't push the pin up into the space where the football is. The sentiment is done on the computer.

Check out the saying I put on the pin :) I'm sure that given the opportunity, Connie (and lots of other ladies out there) would gladly jump on Tony.

August Create A Bunch at Lunch Baby Card

2010-09-07T19:22:00.001-05:00

Even though I haven't posted as much as usual about it, my lunchtime classes are still going strong. Last month, we created web books, just like the ones I posted last year that we made at the Tinley Park Expo, and these super simple baby cards.

I got the idea for the card from an ATC I got from Angi Healy at Rita's spring gathering. I used the Scor-Pal to create lines around the panel of striped paper from the The Angel Company's Lilly Anna paper collection. Then we punched the bib from the Giga Scalloped Circle Clever Lever Punch and punched a smaller 1" punch out of the scalloped circle. We pierced each scallop and tied a ribbon to the top. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's retired Savvy Sayings set, that was one of last year's hostess sets.

Amazingly, everyone finished the cards and web book in record time. This class was about 20 minutes shorter than usual, so everyone had time to chat as well.

Blossoms and Blessings

2010-09-05T09:58:00.001-05:00

My first "must have" stamp set from the recently published Angel Company catalogue. As soon as I saw samples posted online from girls at seminar, I knew this was one that I had to get. Of course, with plans in place for the new house, I didn't get a chance to purchase it immediately, but lucky for me my friend Chelsea - Catalogue Designer Extraordinaire (see Chelsea's Creative Corner blog on my sidebar) had me over to play a few weeks ago, and she let me use her Blossoms and Blessings set to make this card.

It's an acetate card, with the daisies stamped in White Opaque Staz On and the inside sporting a black panel to set off the white blossoms. The flower on the peach panel was colored with Copic markers

I haven't played with acetate in a while, but it was a lot of fun, so you may see more coming.

What Could Be Simpler Wedding Card

2010-08-30T21:39:00.006-05:00

Recently, well in June actually, one of the girls at work got married. I made this 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 wedding card for the whole department to sign, and it couldn't have been simpler. The base is an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper folded in half, with a 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 piece of black and white patterned paper adhered to the top. I used a large sheer black ribbon to knot on the front, with a smaller white bow tied into it and two small heart charms stuck together with glue dots. It's a great, elegant card that literally took longer to pull out the supplies for than it did to make. And it was a big hit.

Blast From The Past Blog Hop

2010-06-22T10:00:00.004-05:00

I'm kind of excited. This is my very first official Blog Hop - The Taylored Expressions' Blast From The Past Blog Hop. Our challenge was to pull out any Taylored Expressions stamp set that was released prior to March, 2010. I LOOOOOVED this Berries and Cherries set from the minute I saw it and figured it would be the perfect stamp for a summer hop.

This is the card I made using this set when I was helping to man a booth at a crop. We were demonstrating Copic markers and I spent a good part of the afternoon working on the shading of the strawberries to show some of the girls what could be done with Copics. Unfortunately I got all the way to the end and the C1 I was using bled out a big grey spot at the corner of the strawberry basket when I went to add the shadow, so I had to do some quick thinking to save it. I ended up cutting the image out with my Labels 1 Nestabilities die and masking off the strawberries so I could spray some Tattered Angels mist around the edge. Since I was working while I was "working" I wasn't thinking to write down things like the paper collection or the Copic colors I used, so I can't give any credits for anything but the stamps.

Here is a close-up of the strawberries:

To see the ideas other hop participants came up with, click on the link below.

Father's Day Camping Card

2010-06-10T21:47:00.004-05:00

This is a card I made using my Camping stamp set from The Angel Company (paired with Taylored Expressions' Boys Will Be Boys stamp set for the #1 Dad sentiment). I've had the Camping set for a while, but I could never figure out what I wanted to do with it. Finally, I decided to use it for my Ohio Gathering swap (before I found out that it was supposed to be an ATC). So this is my first attempt with this set. Nothing fancy, just solid papers, Burnt Umber and Jardin Moss Palette Ink and Walnut Distress Stickles, but I thought it turned out nice. And I know a guy that it would be perfect for.

Mr. Happy Camper doesn't read my blog, I'm sure, but some blog followers should know who I'm talking about.

Rockin Birthday Card

2010-06-08T18:51:00.001-05:00

On Sunday I made cards for Tom's band mates' daughters birthdays. The purple princess in my last post was for the 5 year old. This one was for the 13 year old, and is definitely geared to the teen lifestyle.

The stamp set it Taylored Expressions' My Hero set, with the background stamped in Claret and Seascape Palette ink and the singer and sentiment are stamped in Black Momento ink. The paper is from the Die Cuts With a View Rock Queen Mat Stack. Who would have thought that skulls and lightning bolts would be put together with paisleys? Stars were cut with a punch and the Stars Nestabilities.

Lets Go Blackhawks!

2010-06-06T19:03:00.001-05:00

The Blackhawks have returned to Chicago in their quest for the Stanley Cup and the puck will be dropping soon! Hopefully they'll win the next two games to end it, because I don't think my nerves can take a 7th game.

A friend of mine got some Blackhawk nail decals on e-Bay and shared them with me. Here are my nails, ready to support the home team (I've got them on my toes too). Lets Go Blackhawks!!!!!!

Purple Princess

2010-06-06T12:35:00.007-05:00

My husband and I got invited to a birthday party for his new band mates' daughters this afternoon. Tom asked if I would make cards for the girls (there are 2 of them celebrating this weekend). One of the birthday girls is going to be 5, so I decided to use my new princess Magnolia to make her a card.

The patterned paper is from Provo Craft's Slab XI. I bought the princess in Ohio when we visited a couple of weeks ago. She's colored with Copic markers RV91, RV93, RV95, E0000, E000 E00, E11, E21, E27 and E29. Her crown is done with the Gelly Roll Clear Glitter Pen. The sentiment is done with The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set.

Chocolate Covered Congrats

2010-06-03T18:57:00.001-05:00

I have a very good friend, who is a wonderful and creative artist in so many ways. For years her talent has been overlooked, but she was recently asked to be a designer for a stamp company. She'll be doing cards that will be sent to stores as samples, and used in ads both in print and online. I am so excited for her, because she really deserves the recognition, so I made this card for her and gave it to her with a box of chocolate covered cherries.

The card is textured on the right-hand side using the Scor Pal, and the diamonds I created were then accented with chalk painted on with chalk enhancer, and the bling is provided by Waterfall Stickles. The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Label Lingo, and the chocolate covered cherry image and surrounding red circle are from Taylored Expression's Berries and Cherries stamp set.

The cherry was colored using Copic markers E00, E09, E18 and E37, with the stem done in G24 and G28.

Another Quick Neutral Birthday Card

2010-06-01T18:53:00.002-05:00

A few months ago, I posted a birthday card that my create a bunch at lunch club did. After those classes I usually have some leftovers. I'm finally getting around to putting some of those leftovers to good use. This is a card I made with most of the same materials as that previous post, but I picked a different pattern from the Kaleidoscope Boyz paper collection, and I turned the sketch 90 degrees.

It's Time to Relax!

2010-05-29T11:47:00.005-05:00

This is a card I made last weekend at Rita's Ohio gathering. She was the one that designed the card and gave us directions, but the coloring is all mine. I thought this was the perfect card to kick off Memorial Day weekend.

I'm actually going to give this card to my aunt, who just retired from her job. I figure it's the perfect card for that too.

The card uses The Angel Company's Anchor to the Soul stamp set. The pattern on the left side uses the Diamonds Impressabilities plate as a stencil, and the coloring is done with Copic markers. Since I did it at the gathering last week, I wasn't thinking about writing down the numbers. Wish I had, but oh well.

Hit The Beach ATC

2010-05-27T21:53:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, I spent some time in Ohio at a stamp gathering. I had a wonderful time, and I can honestly say it was one of the best I've been to. All of the projects were amazing without being too complicated and yet utilizing various techniques. I have many plans to use those techniques in future designs.

One of the things we were requested to bring were ATCs to trade with the other stampers attending. It was supposed to be an ATC and not a card front. The reason it was supposed to be an ATC was because we had a project called create-a-card. We made a divided holder where we placed plain white A4 cards with various textures in one of the divided sections, all the ATCs we traded in another and then panels of sentiments in a third. The idea is that you keep this little kit around and when you need a card in a crunch, you can put one of the ATCs on the textured white card and add the appropriate saying in a flash. It's a great idea that I will probably get a lot of use out of, since I spend much of my time making the card I need at the last minute because the cards that have been completed are either at work to sell to co-workers who find themselves in the same sort of situation, or at the shop that sells my cards. It's amazing that I spend so much time making last minute cards when I make so many all year long.

Here is the ATC I created to trade. It's made with The Angel Company's Hit the Beach stamp set. The side squares are textured with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossing folder and Sea Scape Impressabilities plate. The image is colored with Copic Markers Y08, Y11, Y21,YR04, BG49, B21 and C1.

Watercolor Ship Collage

2010-05-25T19:40:00.002-05:00

This card is also one that we created in the watercolor class a while back ago. For this one, we colored the background paper with shades of blue watercolor crayons and blended with the water brush. Then we stamped the image using The Angel Company's soon-to-be retired Ship Collage stamp (one of my favorites for masculine cards) and colored the image with watercolor pencils blended with the water brush. The sentiment comes from the Trendy Greetings stamp set.

Of all the cards we did in the class, this is the one that took the longest because of all the detail in the stamped image, but it is so much more spectacular when you color it.

Watercolor Thinking of You

2010-05-22T22:56:00.002-05:00

This is another card from the watercolor class. On this card, we colored the rubber stamp itself with watercolor crayons, spritzed and then stamped along the bottom of the card, with green leaves painted on by hand. The girl in the hat on the image panel is from The Angel Company's Hats Off stamp set that will be retiring in June. She was colored with watercolor pencils blended with a water brush.

Watercolor Fun

2010-05-20T19:49:00.001-05:00

This card is one that I did a watercolor class on a few years back. The background is done with acrylic blocks and watercolor crayons. We took the watercolor crayons and scribbled some complimentary colors on an acrylic block, then spritzed the block and wiped it across our paper to make the background.

The image panel uses The Angel Company's retired Blissfully Ever After Stamp set colored with watercolor crayons applied with a water brush.

May Create A Bunch At Lunch Club - Graduation Card

2010-05-18T19:14:00.002-05:00

This month, my CBL group made a Father's Day card that I posted last year. They loved using the "blasting box" so much in the January class, that they were asking to do it again, so we made the Ship Collage Father's Day card where we made a spray from Perfect Pearls and used the Tim Holtz compass mask. You can find it by choosing the Father's Day label on the right side-bar if you missed it before.

The other card for today was a graduation card made with The Angel Company's retired Keep Smilin' stamp set and the current Hostess Level C Thinking of You set that will be retiring in June. The solid green and yellow paper is Die Cuts With a View and the patterned paper came from JoAnn's open paper stock.

Since not everyone might need a graduation card, I made a variation that could be used for a birthday using the same stamp sets and supplies. Some of the girls in the club even used the same stamp set and supplies to make a baby card instead.

Mother's Day a little late

2010-05-16T11:29:00.002-05:00

I did see my Mom and make her a card on Mother's Day, but I didn't download my picutre to post until now.

While cleaning up some of my paper, I found this sheet of K & Co. yellow collage paper that my Mom would love. From it, I made this butterfly card - she seems partial to my butterfly cards. We met my Mom, Gradma, Sister, Nice, Dad and Brother-in-law for lunch followed by several rounds of dominoes, which my sister and I tied for winning. Grandpa always taught Mom to play to win, and she's passed that mentality down to us. And now you know why I don't use my dominoes for crafting (I might use the one I need to win!)

Cleaning Up

2010-05-15T09:57:00.005-05:00

I just got back from vacation in New York (hopefully some of the pictures I took there can be used on cards sometime in the future - but I guess that would mean that I have to PRINT them first).

Now that we're back, we're concentrating on getting our condo in order to put on the market and hopefully find a bigger house (with a REAL craft space)! We've been doing LOTS of downsizing and cleaning, and now I'm to my scrap area. Even though it was originally rather small, trying to fit ALL the paper, ribbon, supplies and tools that I just can't part with into a much smaller covered space is going to be a challenge. Of course, some of it can go to the off-site storage unit, but who wants their creative freedom hampered by a trip to the storage unit to try and find exactly what you're thinking of at the moment? That's almost as bad as having to go to the store (which is actually closer) and buying something new.

One of up-sides for you is that in order to make some room, I've been scanning card samples that I created in the past so that I can put them up for sale and still use them for inspiration in the future, and this is a great place to share them and find them easily.

Another is that I have this grand plan to actually finish some of the projects that got started and then put in project envelopes to await completion when I had some free time. Clearly there hasn't been much free time since I've got a stack of unfinished projects, and who knows how much free time we're likely to have when we're busy selling and looking for houses. But hope springs eternal, and we'll just see how many projects get completed and shared.

In the interim, this butterfly card is one that I did from one of the first sketch challenges I ever took part in.

All the supplies on this one came from The Angel Company, and rather amazingly, since the card is several years old, all of them are still in the catalogue. The paper is from the Juliette paper collection and matching cardstock, and the images are from Butterfly Swirls.

Pink and Brown You Rock Card

2010-04-25T13:49:00.001-05:00

On Friday, my niece was in a school talent show. Their version of American Idol. I left work an hour early, but even still, traffic was horrible and I missed her scheduled performance. I did however get to see her steal the show when she danced on the floor to the side of the stage to another song that someone else was doing. She was also voted class vice-president this week.

This is the card I made for her to congratulate her on her achievements.

The stamp set it Taylored Expressions' "You're My Hero" set. The background is the Allegro Cuttlebug embossing plate, and the stars were cut with my Nestabilities.

Brown and Ivory Wedding Card and Tag

2010-04-22T18:29:00.004-05:00

This is the card and tag I made for the bridal shower I attended on the 10th; the one where I gave the brown and ivory towel cake. The card was quick and easy. I used Ivory cardstock scored in a harlequin pattern using the Scor-Pal and put Cinnamon Stickles on each intersecting line. Then I stamped the champagne glasses from The Angel Company's retired Blissfully Ever After stamp set and colored the "champagne" with Yellow Stickles and the ribbon with watercolor crayons and a water brush. The sentiment is from the Growing Love set. The bottom of the panel uses cinnamon glitter bubble stickers.

The tag was cut from the Wedding/Marriage Cricuit Cartridge. The sentiment came from the same Blissfully Ever After set and was accented with more Cinnamon Stickles. The ivory ribbon is a remnant from the cake and is tied with a smaller brown ribbon.

Mother's Day Card

2010-04-20T20:51:00.002-05:00

Today was my Create a Bunch at Lunch group. For this meeting, we made the card I posted a few weeks ago with the girl and the umbrella and we also made this Mother's Day card.

The patterned paper is Brooke Paisley from Making Memories' Simply Fabulous collection with Coordinations' White Washed Green. I used my Labels One Nestabilities for the sentiment panel and the Flower Creations die and some punches to make the flower.

The sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set, and the swirl is from Fancy Curls. The stamped swirl and the flower are both accented with a Stardust Clear Gelly Pen, which is one of the groups favorite things to use.

Elegant Wedding Card

2010-04-15T18:42:00.002-05:00

This is the wedding card I made to go with the cream, black and silver towel cake for my co-worker.

This card uses Heather Scott's Monday sketch from a few Monday's ago. I had it all ready to go, but didn't want to post it until after the shower, because the bride is a blog follower and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. So here it is now.

The background is black cardstock covered with Pewter Perfect Pearls, and using the Angel Company's Victorian Elements stamps to remove the perfect pearls in spots revealing the black underneath. The image panel takes the champagne glasses from TAC's retired Wedding Wishes set, and the Contratulations from the Growing Love stamp set.

I colored the ribbons around the glasses with Silver Smooch, and filled the glasses with Illuminate Smooch. The silver ribbon is a scrap left over from decorating the cake.

Another Towel Cake

2010-04-13T18:30:00.000-05:00

Here is the second cake I made for my co-worker's bridal shower last weekend.

This one is basically the same as the one posted Saturday, but it uses two bath sheets and two bath towels. Note to self....while bath sheets seem much larger when you look at them or when you use them after taking a shower, they're really not all that much bigger than the bath towels when you roll them up. In fact, both layers were the same size. To help the bottom layer look bigger, I ended up rolling a measuring cup set in the center and wound the bath sheets around it, and even then, the bottom layer is still not much bigger than the top layer. Something to keep in mind if you decide to do this yourself.

Other than that, the cake came together in exactly the same manner as the one I posted on Saturday, including using spatulas and wooden spoons to poke through both layers and help hold the cake together.

Since the towels the bride chose were cream, I was able to incorporate her black, white and silver wedding colors into my decorating, and went for a big bow on top accented with flowers.

There is also a matching card that I will post on Thursday.

Wedding Shower Gift That Takes the Cake

2010-04-10T13:02:00.000-05:00

I have two bridal showers today. One for family and one for a co-worker. For both showers, I thought I'd try my hand at making a towel cake. I'd seen one once before at another shower last spring, and figured it couldn't be that hard. Truth is, it's a piece of cake :). Pun totally intended.

The idea is to make three layers using two bath towels as the base, two hand towels as the middle layer and and two fingertip towels for the top. You basically fold all of the towels in quarters lengthwise and roll them up and pin the back. I actually did each of mine slightly different, but the idea is still the same. I also chose to fill mine with kitchen gadgets, because in each case, I am going in halves with someone else on the gifts.

This one is the one I made for my cousin's fiance. She chose chocolate brown towels. My sister and I decided that a two layer cake would be easier to handle and we used three bath towels to make this cake. Two are rolled together for the base and one is rolled up for the top layer. My nieces will also be going to the shower, so we decided to make a smaller separate cake for them using hand towels.

The insides are stuffed with various kitchen gadgets we found at Bed, Bath and Beyond where we got the towels. They were items that were not on the bride's registry, but were just different and interesting, or something everyone can use a bunch of. Spatulas and bag sealers are pushed lengthwise from the top layer through to the bottom layer to keep the layers together and give them some stability. Other items include a strawberry huller, an avocado peeler, a cookie scoop, bag clips, a mini chopper, a silicone fingertip hot pad and some other miscellaneous items.

The sides are rolled in cream colored ribbon that I added some cream cabochon crystal stickers to, and the topper is flowers from a dollar store. Strangely enough, it was the girls' mini cake that was the most difficult to get together. It was so small, that the gadgets I was filling it with weren't laying right. But other than that, the cake was amazingly easy to put together.

Check back in a few days, and I'll share the other cake.

You Rock!

2010-04-05T07:22:00.006-05:00

Having a musical husband, some of my faborite stamps are those that lean towards rock, or have some sort of musical theme. Taylored Expressions recently released the My Hero stamp set, which I just had to have. I finally got a chance to cut it this week and used it for Taylor's sketch challenge.

I had a lot of fun giving the guitar a fun paint job with copic markers R28 and Y18. The paper is from The Angel Company's Cha Cha paper collection and matching cardstock. The embossing on the blue panel was created with the Cuttlebug Allegro emobssing folder. Some of the stars are accented with Irridescent Smooch, and some are raised with foam squares.

Think Spring Sketch Challenge Card

2010-03-29T07:26:00.006-05:00

This is another card I made for the Taylored Expression's Blog, Card Sketch. I find that I do more and more things with sketches. They're a great way to take some of the stress out of coming up with a card. Since it almost always takes me at least an hour to come up with a card, sketches seem like a good start to me.

This card used left over pieces of paper from the Mother's Day card my Create a Bunch at Lunch girls are going to do next month. You'll have to tune back in around April 20th to see that one.

The patterned paper is Making Memories that I found available in single sheets at Jo-Ann fabrics. The stamp set is Want to Fly from The Angel Company's Serendipity magalogue, and the sentiment is from Tag Tidbits. I punched some butterflies out and some flowers and used them to give the vine some added dimension, and I gave the design a little more interest by going over some of the vines with a green colored pencil and/or the Sakura Clear Glitter Pen. I also used Crystal Stickles to brighten the centers of the flowers and butterflies.

When it rains it pours!

2010-03-23T22:07:00.007-05:00

O.K., so the stamp isn't quite the Morton Salt girl, it's the Rainy Day set from Hanna Stamps. (I heard there was some rumor about Hanna Stamps being out of business, and I don't know whether it's true or not, but as of today, this set is available at Addicted To Rubber Stamps, which is where I purchased it originally.)

The layout came from Taylored Expressions' Friday's Cupcake Challenge. I love sketch challenges, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it in this card, but somehow it didn't turn out quite like I expected.

I'm thinking of using this as one of the cards for my Create A Bunch at Lunch group in April, but I haven't decided yet.

The image is colored with Copic Markers BG09, BG13, Y15 and RV19. The hair, skin and umbrella handle are Skin Tones pencils. The yellow DCWV paper is embossed with the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, and the patterned paper is from the DCWV Holiday Collection - The Christmas Stack that I had leftover from the holidays. There are also some very faint blue rain drops on the image panel, but it looks like they didn't show up on the scan.

Birthday Candles and Cake

2010-03-19T21:10:00.006-05:00

These are the birthday cards my Create-A-Bunch girls made on Tuesday. The combination of these cards plus the Easter cards I posted on Monday night took us just a hair over our lunch hour because I didn't time them out when I made them like I usually do (I created this one at the DeKalb Crop and cut all the pieces while I was there, and wasn't even thinking about the timing issue) All the same, the cards were a hit, and it's a testament to my new stampers that they could make these two cards plus to of the Easter card without going drastically over time. When we started in December, there would have been no way that could have happened.

The inspiration for this card initially came from the February 26th Cupcake Challenge posted on the Taylored Expressions blog, and while it follows the sketch dead-on, it's a little hard to see, because I used the candles as the left-hand panel.

The background used the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug embossing folder, the candles are cut from another Cuttlebug die, Birthday Wishes. The "happy" on the candles is from The Angel Company's "Family is Forever" stamp set, the "birthday" is from the "Marvelous Mottos" set, and the cake is from the retired "Let's Party" set.

I used Copic markers BG45, Y11 and Y15. The flames on all the candles are accented with Crystal Stickles, which all the girls go nuts over. They even added them to the Easter eggs on the Easter card, even though I didn't use them in the sample.

Easter Card

2010-03-15T18:10:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is my Create a Bunch at Lunch card group. We're making two cards, an Easter card and a birthday card. This is the Easter card we'll be doing.

We're making the backgrounds ourselves with paper scored with the Scor-Pal on a diagonal and dots using pencil erasers and VersaMagic Inks: Pink Grapefruit, Aquatic Splash, Spring Pansy and Key Lime. The yellow is DCWV and the pattern is part of a spring collection of double-sided paper by Heidi Swap I believe. The eggs were cut with the From My Kitchen cartridge of the Cricut and the sentiment is from The Angel Company's Trendy Greetings stamp set. The original image has the word Happy above Easter, but since they're cling mounted stamps, I was easily able to cut between the words so that I could use them lengthwise next to each other this way.

This card is also available in my Shop Handmade store.