Sherry's Bear

"Sherry Berry" is what I call my son's girlfriend. And today, she needs a Teddy Bear -- so this is Sherry's Beary. The inside refrain is from Stampin' Up "There is a Rip and a Tear in my Teddy Bear and love pours from him everywhere!" My husband and I are sharing that love with heartfelt good wishes for Sherry's speedy recovery from a very serious car accident. Sherry, this Teddy Bear loves you and so do we.

Things I needed to make this card: from Sizzix, oval frame, Teddy Bear (paper pieced), and hearts; Marvy craft punch for tiny heart, Cuttlebug embossing folder, soft wire, and foam mounts.

Happy Birthday

I couldn't think of a special title for this birthday card but it is going to a very special young girl named Zoe Stella. I was in a pinch for a birthday card for Zoe so I began a hurried search in my studio. When I found this card, it was truly a plain Jane -- one of my earlier "works" -- the front only had the stamped clouds, the balloons and strings. With a little help from a Sizzlet die "Brooke and Timber" (pieced hair and clothing), foam mounts and a small phrase stamp (unknown), I am happy with the final result. The balloons were part of an exercise to use a circle punch in as many ways as possible. I conducted a workshop wherein we made a reference book containing lots of things you can make from a circle punch. I'll share some of these ideas in future posts. Thanks for stopping by, I do so appreciate the encouragement you leave in your comments. I wish Zoe well and I wish you well too.

A little Birdie

I've been thinking about this card all week and nearly thought past the Saturday deadline without putting it together. This Penny Black challenge was to use a great sketch by Beth to showcase a delightful Penny Black image.


The design team for these challenges always presents awesome works of art -- please go see for yourself. I inherited these papers as scraps from an unknown source and they made the making of this card so easy with an addition of a little lacy edging by Fiskars. Our little hedgehog is layered a la Tole to really make him fat and happy and so is his little birdie friend. The little birdie sparkles with Art Institute Glitter and liquid laminate. The Poinsettia (also painted with liquid laminate) is a Sizzlet, embossed on the backside for dimension with a small flower punch and gem for center impact. "Friend" is from Stampendous. My son likes this card but, as always, gave me a severe critique. Ahh, but we are still "friends."

Potted Iris

Potted Iris? – well not exactly – this is an Iris fold project that looks like a pot – I used a southwestern theme with the papers and added the stamped images — the lizard and rock formations are from an unknown company. There is an incredible amount of patterns available for iris folding – and it is also fun to design your own. This one was designed by Hetty as a purse -- I turned it upside down to create the pot and I sent a picture to her so she could see how her design could be something entirely different when made by someone from Arizona. I've lost track of her or I would give you a link. Iris folding is a wonderful project and can be portable. I did a lot of these when I was working out of town and needed something crafty to do in my hotel room in the evenings. I sometimes even resorted to making strips of paper from a hotel magazine!

A Perfect Pair

Celebrate! Karen and Gabe are doing just that. Today will mark 44 years of marriage and this is the card that I made for them. Another playing card recycling project -- this will be No. 4. If I play my cards right, perhaps I can conjure up some more card tricks. See post below for No. 3 - Gogh have a Great Birthday that contains links for No. 2 Drama Queen, and No. 1 King for a Day. The red heart is a Sizzix die cut, cuttlebug embossed. The background paper is stamped with an All Night Media "tapestry" and gold embossed; the King and Queen of Hearts are inserted into the printed paper pocket with foam mounts. The paper fasteners were added -- because they were, after all, "paper fasteners." LOL . I hope my friends Karen and Gabe receive the royal treatment today.

Fred Astaire

Stamps Happen - Fred Astaire

One of my favorite stamps --

"When I get to Heaven, and I'm all settled there -- May I dine with Mr. Disney.... and dance with Fred Astaire?"

See Fred as Sean Connery as 007 here

Gogh have a Great Birthday

In other posts using recycled playing cards (Drama Queen), and King for a Day I promised to show more ideas. Any idea in the craft room for Gin Rummy cards is better than using them to play cards with my husband -- he always wins!

My son's good friend who studied art with him and is now in the art industry just had a birthday. Here's the card I made for him using discarded playing cards. The Van Gogh stamp is from Flax in San Francisco. Inside, my greeting was: "I hope you Gogh and have a great birthday!" Lightly sand the face of old playing cards, stamp an image. Sponge the edges using a Memories Brown Ink Pad to continue the aged look. Simple as that! The background paper is from Dollar Tree and is affixed to a folded sheet of white card stock. One stamped card image is set inside a sizzix copper cardstock frame and the one that overlays is attached with foam mounts. Just think, with just one old deck of playing cards (already aged and distressed), there are 52 opportunities to make something new without shuffling too much through your stash! Happy Birthday Craig -- was your birthday a Van Gogh?

My Little Pirate's Birthday

My grandson is celebrating a birthday this week and this was a quick and fun card that I know he will love. My fav Sizzix makes quick work of this although it did require a bit of piecing for the clothing and sword. The sand is torn and ink sponged cardstock. The background is a fall leaf stamp. The only thing missing from this scene is the treasure -- and that belongs to me! My grandson is my treasure! Happy Birthday Ryan.

An Award!

Rica's Haven is one of my favourite haunts and I couldn't be more delighted for Heather to have listed me as one of the recipients of this award. Heather's cards are perfection and she posts multiple cards faster than I can make one, or even think about making one. Please go by and visit -- you'll be glad that you did. As you all know, an award is to be shared and so here is where I send this lovely award on to a just a few of my favorites:

Sue Drees

SusieQ

Sandra

Fabricbutterfly

Mama Monkey

Sue from Oregon
Scrapper Julia

Coldwaters2

Plus many, many more of you wonderfully talented folks!

The Tulip Challenge

My friend Linda, and all her family are gathering to celebrate her mother's 90th birthday. To give me some inspiration for a card, Linda told me her mother's favorite flowers are tulips, peonies, gladiolas, and lilies. This was my challenge because of all the stamps in my collection, the only one of these I could find was one Hero Arts tulip stamp! While rummaging through the "flower" drawer, I found this adorable little old-fashioned girl (Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers) and wondered why it was there until I realized that the flower drawer was also labeled "Easter" and on her skirt were the words "Happy Easter" and her basket is full of little chicks. Ahhh, an idea hatched! I used the tole technique for dimension -- the bonnet and ribbon are separately cut out, burnished and raised. The tulips are cut out and inserted in a slit cut in the basket, and lay over top the chicks (which I colored green so there would be no sign left of them). One tulip drapes down with a wire stem and the tiny "Happy Birthday" is glued atop the "Happy Easter." Once the little girl was all assembled, for even more dimension, she was affixed with foam dots on top of the Darcie cottage scene. A Stampendous verse inside says: "Today I Celebrate You." So now I can truly say, I've met the tulip challenge and can happily send off Birthday Greetings to Dorothy on her 90th Birthday!

Really Red Roses

Penny Black has put forth a color challenge this week in honor of the USA's birthday: red, white, and blue for the American Flag. "Easy Peasy" as one of my blogging friends like to say because I still had out all those colors from my last posting. Another blogging friend, Heather, suggests using silicone for the tole technique and I agree it worked very nicely on the rose bouquet. Though the image doesn't show very well, I kept the kitties in their natural stamping color (Memories Midnight Blue) and only colored a slight pink tint on the ears, nose, and cheeks. The oval frame and flowers are Sizzix (still trying to justify all those purchases) and the frame is edged with pleated tissue paper. Other features: Cuttlebug embossing folder, blue sponging on the red flowers., rickrack and DCWV blue print. The really red roses are prisma markers. Be sure and stop by the Penny Black blog to see those gorgeous creations by the DT.

Now, I've really got to clean off the washer and dryer and do some real work. Ahh, do you think I'm kidding?

Happy Birthday Sarah and America

One of my dear friend's birthday is the 4th of July and for many years, we attended an event sponsored by mutual friends/associates who had a big "backyard" party that included bona fide fireworks (as in really up in the air displays). This celebration is now only memories from the past but I remind Sarah of this July 4th celebration and her birthday with this card. I used the same sketch from a recent House Mouse challenge to make easy work of this 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 card. The image is actually a Christmas stamp and I changed the snowflakes floating down on the mice into fireworks with Art Institute Glitter and now, the mice trio, with the little drummer, certainly appear to be independence singers. The perfect background came from a DCWV tablet, and the flag was composed from a sizzix die. Coloring with prisma markers. This House Mouse design is also posted here in honor of another's birthday. America -- she is on the design team for the House Mouse challenge -- please go visit her and wish her a happy birthday too! I had to delay the posting of this card because I didn't want Sarah to see it before I hand delivered it to her yesterday. And, by the way, the hand delivery was well-rewarded with a housefull of Sarah's family and friends and a goodly amount of food and birthday cake. Happy Birthday USA, Sarah, and America!