good egg

Inside this card it says, "You are a good egg!" I can't beGIN to explain how wonderful it is to FINALLY have a chicken stamp set! And it's FREEEEEE in the Saleabration catalogue RIGHT NOW, with a purchase of $60CD. And the BEST thing about this set is this wonderful realistic Polish Rooster. That's right! He's a rooster, but there HAD to be an egg on this card....
(For those of you who know about these wonderful Polish guys, the designer of this stamp set obviously knew they cocked their heads to the side and she made this roo to do EXACTLY the right thing!)

computer generated (mostly love stuff)

masculine birthdays (variety)

We're always looking for masculine cards aren't we? Well, my friend Kayla gave me several ideas (challenges, rather!) and here are the results!

leaves for Father's Day

...or any other masculine card for that matter.

my shoulder is yours

I absolutely love that sentiment. This card was a combination of embossing, stamping, sponging, masking, coloring, and anything you can think of! I love using Timeless Textures for the edges and subtle hints of background design.

love 'n sunshine

The Sunshine Sayings bundle, at 10% off, will get you these two cards!! 

best fishes

These two cards were made using SU's bundle which includes the stamp set Jar of Love and the framelits dies Everyday Jars. The top card is 3-d with a clear center and gems inside the fishbowl while the 2nd card has the gems adhered on the bottom of the jar.

pedal pushers saleabration

These two cards showcase two new stamp sets. Actually three! Timeless Textures, Pedal Pushers, and Balloon Celebrations. I soooo hope SU keeps Timeless Textures as it's a MUST HAVE set! I used it to give the illusion of ground and sky on both of these cards. It's a little hard to see, but on the floral card, look closely beneath those flowers and you will see another image from those gorgeous textures. And don't even get me STARTED on Pedal Pushers! WOWWWW!!! And you only have till the end of March to get it ABSOLUTELY FREE with the purchase of $60 worth of SU product (before shipping and taxes). Please do grab it! It's soooo fun especially with spring around the corner.

happy birthday leaf in water color

By now you've figured out I LOVE WATER COLOR! Those aqua painters of mine are starting to show a lot of wear! I wish I could give you the EXACT instructions how to mimic my leaf here, but truly, I hardly know myself how I did it. Trial and error and lot of layers of water and ink markers and drying in between. Or not! I used the leaf image from Botanical Gardens, that much I do know and can tell you!

masculine in water color

Both of these cards showcase a water colored focal point. Above, I used the elk image from The Wilderness Awaits. Below, I used Lovely As A Tree. The woodlands embossing folder (which will be available once again in the new upcoming annual catalogue) added texture to both cards, one by creating an entire background and the other by cutting out a few of the trees to layer over the image.

free flying...almost

Does anyone know if this technique has a name? When you make something hang in mid-air??!! In a cut-out circle? Well, anyway, that's what happened here on all these cards. The first two were a personal challenge for me to use my circle thinlets card dies. I find them sooooo challenging, but I was happy with what I came up with. Just in time for valentines!

This owl perches on a branch from a different die (I'm sorry I don't remember which one!) but the circle is cut out and that blue/gray you see is actually a poor picture of bashful blue, I believe. I had help from my young friend again in the design of this one!

Sky is the Limit

This card is one I found and my favorite 5-yr-old decided to copy it. Sort of. He actually changed things up a little, like embossing in black instead of cutting the bi-plane out and his sky was done by dipping his aqua painter into reinker puddles!! (Yes, I helped him! But he pretty much designed and colored everything!)

And here's one I embossed in black and brayered a sunset over. It's not a completed card, but the sentiment will be added once I know the occasion it will be used for.

camo Christmas card for the hunter (Christmas series/tutorials)

I am SO SO SO EXCITED!! I actually accidentally found a way to create a camouflage background! I set out to make 12 outdoors-man hunter-style cards and in the process made a huge life-altering discovery. 

I have a son who's heart is in the woods. Out there with the elk and wolves and grouse. I kinda thought of him when I made this batch of cards. They are simple and un-embellished and of course you have the option to step these up if you like. Anyway, Let's get started, shall we? I'll show you how my accident happened!

Ok, first you cut your pieces. 

12 pieces Natural cardstock---4 1/4" x 11" (I chose to make my cards the long way)

12 pieces Natural cardstock---4 1/4" x 5 1/2" 

12 pieces Early Espresso---aprox. 3/4" x 5 1/2" (Made into banner shape)

Soft Suede---punched into 36--- 1 3/8" squares

Natural---punched into 36---1 1/4" squares

Take your Woodland TIEF and using your brayer roll Mossy Meadow on the opposite side of the "Sizzix" logo. Now HERE'S where my camo accident happened! For fun I spritzed the ink on the folder before running my cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Natural) though the Bigshot. Just LOOK how it smudges and smears into the perfect camouflage for that young hunter-man you are raising! You can spritz more or less, depending on how much camo you desire.

Using the Wonderland stamp set and stamp pads in Mossy Meadow, Tip Top Taupe, and Garden Green...

...stamp 12 of each image onto the small punched out squares (Natural).

Assemble it now. I originally planned to adhere my banner on the left side of all 12 card fronts, but I found I was gonna cover up my best gorgeous camo smudges that way, so several of the banners had to land on the right hand side. Using the Mossy Meadow squares, mat the stamped squares on top. Using dimentionals, pop those little framed images up and line them up on the banner.

Here's a nice close-up of how I did that.

It's a little tough to see the sentiment, but I did that on purpose in keeping with the camouflage idea here. I wanted a "long" sentiment, not a "paragraph style". So I grabbed the retired Ornamental Pines "Christmas Wishes" and stamped it beside the matted images. (Look at picture)

There it is! This is the left-hand banner card, and below you see the right-hand matted card along with a nice close-up of that camo! Won't that be a delight to your outdoorsy friends this Christmas?

And how excited I am to at long last come up with my own technique! Ha!!

happy birthday fish

Don't you think this would suit a teenage boy? I have such issues trying to figure out boy-cards. Anyway, I don't know if you can tell, but there's a little ziplok bag of HAIR GEL between the layers with the cutout and popped up fish behind it! I added a couple drops of Pool Party ink to the hair gel and my friendly 4-year-old squished it until the colors blended. Soooo cool!

brick wall textured impressions embossing folder

We have a friend who is a concrete worker/mason. So for his birthday, I made him a brick wall card. I used a Ranger brand cement embossing powder I found at a local craft store and heat embossed the grout between the bricks with that stuff. Actually it worked perfectly to just lightly tap my Versamark pad on the embossing folder before running my paper through the Bigshot. Also the little metal hook-deal comes from some random craft store years ago.

vintage leaves (stamps and dies)

Okay people, I don't like to be high pressured and obnoxious when it comes to selling and promoting Stampin' Up and our awesome products, but will you just LOOK at these gorgeous leaves? Check out the Woodlands Textured embossing folder I've used on these two cards. You will find it in the new Holiday Catalogue which you are able to order from tomorrow, September 1st. Let me know if you need a catty and I'll get one to you asap! The leaves are from the annual catty and if you order the Vintage Leaves as well as the Leaflets dies you get 15% off.

Here's my opinion on the new Holiday Catalogue: Stampin' Up beat their own wonderful record this year by producing the best collection for fall and winter that they ever have come up with. (Now, was that sentence grammatically correct? Did you get what I meant?!)

NOTE: the yellow paper on the lower card is handmade in India. If you are interested in purchasing this and other colors and textures, just contact me by clicking here.

by the tide

I'm simply LOVING my "by the tide" stamp set! AND "You've got this" as well.
And funny thing, but I've always considered scallops a fem thing until I had this brainwave to make faux waves with this scalloped edgelit thingy.  I doubled checked just now and it's a discontinued SU item, but other edges would work as well. 
For those who know I have a DSP handicap, DID YOU NOTICE I USED DSP ON THIS CARD???!!! LOL!

by the tide/from land to sea

I probably should explain all the recent cards and that square stamp I've been using for a background. I used a few different turquoise and green reinkers and dropped some ink on my clear block. Then I wrapped it with a baby wipe and used it for a background stamp! Lovely, eh? So since I didn't want to waste any of that precious color, I just went ahead and stamped a few backgrounds with it. THAT'S why you're seeing a lotta blue blocky backgrounds!

About these two stamp sets, By The Tide and From Land to Sea, I've been eying them for a great long while already and decided I MUST finally get them. They go so well with my favorite oceany beachy colors and I dunno---I just love them, I guess! 

Can you spy where I used my rotary alphabet AGAIN???!!!!

his big 4-0

Don't tell him, but my brother just turned 40 and this is his card! Ya I know I'm late, but at least he's still getting something from us! About this card, it probably takes very little to guess he's an avid fisherman and lover of nature. Quiet lakes and slow meaningful fishing!!! 

And guess what I discovered??? SU sells the most delightful tool to personalize your cards beyond your wildest imagination! The Alphabet Rotary Stamp. It's an oldfashioned stamp that takes you back in time! You can scribe WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES on your cards.

feathers, really REAL feathers {effortless}

We have oodles of birds here at our place. (Even the cats have noticed :( Grrrr! ) Anyway, we love to collect these gorgeous feathers as they fall. Jays, magpies, pheasants, ducks and even from our pet guinea fowl! LOL! Our Rhody hens donated to the stash as well. And while I love using SU's four feathers stamps and dies, I do so love the simplicity of collecting and using the real deal. Below you will see what a 4-year-old comes up with. He had a smidgen of help, but not so much. All ideas were his own!