Another Snowy Card making Day

Wow!  Can you say S*N*O*W??  We sure had it this morning.  It was slinging it down when I got up this morning - big, fat, wet flakes.  It snowed until about lunch time.  We guessed about an inch an hour.  I think we got about 7"!!  Sonny and I went out walking in the snow around 2.  The sun was trying to come out and the snow was melting fast from the trees.  It was actually a lot warmer than what we expected.  I took my scarf, gloves and jacket off and was just walking in my sweater (with my long johns on).  When we got back I made a snowman but he didn't last too long.  Guess we Southerners aren't good snowmen makers!

Lake in snow

My cute snowman

Wipe Out!!  He didn't stay standing for long

I tried to revive him!!

Sonny was pretty bundled up!

 I made a bunch of cards today.  I'm getting some made for club and for an All Occasion Class I am going to be offering soon.  Plus our family is on baby watch.  My nephew's wife is expecting her second any day now.  She has been in early labor for 2 weeks. If she doesn't go into labor before Tuesday I think her doctor is going to induce her.  I'll share her card in a few days after I mail it so I don't spoil the surprise in case she looks at my blog.

I played around with the Hexagon Hive framelit from the Occasions catalog.  It's a fun look.  I CASE'd a couple of cards from Pinterest.  This first card I cut the Hexagon hive from Daffodil Delight card stock and stamped randomly with one of the floral stamps in Secret Garden.  I made my own background to put behind the framelit.  I stamped two flowers from Petal Parade and popped them up.  The sentiment is from Perfect Pennants - one of my favorite stamps in the occasions catalog!

This is the background I stamped.  I used the watercolor "blob" from Happy Watercolor and the floral stamp from Secret Garden.  It looks kind of sloppy but when you put the Hexagon Hive in front of it, only a portion shows through.

The second card I made using the Hexagon Hive is this one:

I used Pink Pirouette for the Hexagon Hive this time.  The key to using this framelit is to use a piece of wax paper in the "sandwich."  If not, you will have a tough time getting the card stock off the framelit.  (ask me how I know!!)  On this one, I stamped a flower (Secret Garden) in white and again in Pink Pirouette onto the Hexagon hive piece.  I embossed several of the hexagons with the Dotted embossing folder and adhered them to the hexagons.   The sentiment and little floral stamped strip is from You're Lovely, a Saleabration stamp set.

September Stamp Club

I think it is going to be a long football season for the Steelers this year!  I just finished watching them get beat AGAIN.  They are now 3-0 for the season - no wins!!  Isn't that crazy??  I can't ever remember a start to the season like this one.  Sonny will be hard to live with this winter.

I had Stamp Club last week and we made some great cards and learned a new technique.

We made this card using the Faux Cloissone Technique.  I did this technique years ago and forgot about it until we made Belinda's card in the shoebox swap a couple of weeks ago.  I thought it would be a fun thing to do with my club gals.  They loved it!  The flower is from Secret Garden so we used the die to cut it out instead of having to cut it free hand.  The butterfly is cut with the die from Backyard Basics.  To do the technique:

• ·       Select a colorful page from a glossy magazine.
• ·       Rub your Embossing Buddy over the part of the magazine page you want to use.
• ·       Ink the Secret Garden flower stamp with Versamark ink and stamp on the magazine page.
• ·       Pour Gold Embossing Powder over your image.   Tap off excess powder.  Use the heat gun & emboss the gold powder.

 

 This card uses the Peekaboo Sizzix die.  I really have not used this die as much as I should have.  I just forget about it.  But it is so easy to use and makes such a cute card.  The stamp set is Halloween Hello. 

This card turned out so pretty!  I used Natural Composition DSP and rubbed white ink over the DSP with a dauber.  Then I wiped the ink off the flowers with a paper towels.  It's like the ink resist technique.  The stamp set is from Serene Silhouettes.

 This was my favorite card!  I used Shimmery White cardstock and just did a color wash with my Aqua Brush.  You just have to be careful and not get the card stock too wet.  First we used painters tape and taped the edges of the card stock.  I squeezed my ink pads to get ink in the lid to paint with.  I used Soft Sky for the top half; next Marina Mist; and finally Soft Saffon and a little bit of Baked Brown Sugar for the sand.  Then stamp the birds and sentiment.  I love this stamp set!
 

Bags for the Beach and for Baby

I had a very productive weekend in my stamp room.  I am trying to figure out what to do in Stamp Club this week but I have too many choices!  So, I keep playing around with different sets and techniques.  I need to make a decision!!

We got some good news this weekend that our family will be growing next year.  My nephew and his wife, Katrina, are expecting their second child in February.  They already have a precious little boy.  I'm hoping for a little girl but we'll have to wait a few weeks before they know the sex.  I made this little baby bag card to send to them to congratulate them.  I found the pattern on-line (Pinterest probably).  I think we will be making a similar bag in club this week too!

I also think I was in a pastel mood this weekend.  Seems most of the cards I made were with pastel colors which is unusual for me.  I usually go for the Brights and Regals.  But I love the new in colors and the way they seem to go together. 

This little bag opens on the side.  The little closure is punched with the Ticket Punch and has a bit of Velcro to keep it closed.  The mosaic background piece is from the DSP packet, Quadrefancy Specialty.  It is a clear window sheet with the quadrefoil design in white.  The sentiment is from That's the Ticket.  I used a few pearls and my white gel pen to dress it up.

On the inside, I punched 4 little hearts to cover up where the straps were glued down.








Here is another bag I made.  This time I used the DSP from a Christmas pack!  This DSP is in the Holiday catalog - Winter Frost (pg 29).  So, you can use winter DSP for a summer bag, can't you!?!  I really like this paper.  This time for the bag closure I used the Oval Punch.  The sentiment is from Oval All that I just realized is retired!  Oops - I had it on the wrong shelf.  The little flower is from Secret Garden - hard to tell but it is stamped in Pool Party and I used the dauber and Island Indigo for the edges.  Instead of a pearl on the closure, I used one of the Candy Dots (I love these things!)

 And how about a beach bag tote?  Again, this DSP is from a Christmas stack.  This time the DSP is Season of Style (pg 22 of Holiday mini).  I am a polka dot gal and love this Soft Suede polka dot bag with the pretty Blushing Bride card stock.  I stamped and heat embossed the anchor from Open Sea and added a little bit of twine to it.  The flowers are punched using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch (but you could also use the Boho Blossom flower.)  Again I used the Candy Dots for the closure and for the center of the flowers. 

So what did you do this weekend?  Productive or just lazing around?  Both are fine with me!!  Oops gotta run - Sammie wants to play straws.  (I throw her straw down the stairs and she runs down and fetches it just like a dog!)

Pop Up Flower Garden

What a busy weekend for me!  Friday started off with Judy picking me up to play Hand and Foot (which my team won, by the way!)  When she dropped me off at home, I discovered Sonny was not home and I had not brought my keys to get in the house.  He was running errands in Mooresville.  So Judy was kind enough to drive me to meet him.  She was headed in to Mooresville anyway to Subway so I didn't feel like I made her go too far out of her way.  Anyway .... thanks Judy!!  Sonny was at the grocery store.  By the time we finished there and got home, I only had a couple of hours before I needed to drive in to town again.  Newcomers annual fundraiser, Bingo, was Friday night.  We have a Bingo night with prizes and silent auction items every year and all the proceeds go towards our Literacy Program.  Our big silent auction item is the dinner that the Southern Living Lunch group auctions off.  This time we decided to also add a luncheon for 8 people along with the dinner for 10.  We serve the winners a gourmet dinner (and lunch this year) with wine.  We made $400 on the dinner and I think about $250-300 on the lunch!!  So, not too shabby!  There were so many great prizes this year - door prizes as well as bingo prizes.  The committee outdid itself.  I donated 4 boxes of hand made greeting cards with envelopes and was thrilled to see that they were on the silent auction table and were popular.  I think they sold for around $50!  Marianne, Angela and my mom went with me to the event.  Sonny stayed home this year!  I came home with a nice basket with wine, napkins, plastic wine glass (great for the boat!) and truffles and the plant centerpiece.  Marianne got a silent auction item of a game basket.  Mom got a gift certificate from Denny's and a nail spa.  Angela won a gift certificate to her favorite Mexican restaurant.   So, we all did pretty well.

Saturday morning I had to get up at 6:30!!  How AWFUL!  I went to a class at Verizon to learn how to use my "smarter than me" phone.  It was somewhat helpful but I did find out that I knew a lot more than the other people in the class!  After the class, I went to Concord to teach a group of ladies My Digital Studio.  I just love teaching others to use MDS.  It is so rewarding to hear the "ahhhh's" and "ohhhh's" as they learn the program.  It's such fun!  When I got home, I tried to take a quick siesta before leaving again to meet the family in Statesville for dinner at a new Mexican restaurant.  The food was good but it's hard for me to compare NC Mexican food after eating it in Texas!!   I was so tired when we got home but made it until 10:30 before going to bed.

Today I have been getting ready for bridge at my house.  I have 12 ladies coming to play.  I spent a lot of time working on my digital scrapbook from England and Ireland.  I am trying to finish it in time to take advantage of Stampin' Up's digital sale that ends at the end of the week.

Last Thursday I had time to finally play around with the Pop'n'Cuts Die and dress die.  I made this card using the die:

Front of card using Secret Garden stamp and framelits

Inside of card bottom from Feeling Goods stamp and Secret Garden

Card opened.  The flower pot is made using the dress die and cut it in half.  The flowers are from Secret Garden.

Close up of flower pot.

Stamp Club April Cards

I had Stamp Club last week and we made these four cards.

Language Of Friendship

I think this was my favorite one!  I got the stamp set last year during Sale-a-Bration and don't think I have used it before this time.  I bet this is going to be one of those sets that will be retired .... we'll see this week!!  I love the Designer Brads from the Mini Catalog - added just the right touch, don't you think?

This card uses a retired stamp set but it would be easy to recreate using the Aviary stamp in the current catalog.  The colors I used were Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizazz and Island Indigo.

Secret Garden

This was a request by a couple of my stamp club gals.  I used Lucky Limeade with Gumball Green leaves.  The flowers are Calypson Coral which I embossed in white and cut out with the framelits.

flower using soda pop cap for center

These two cards were made using the elements from the Pop-Up Posies Kit.  Some of the gals made the flowers using the cupcake liners for flowers and some used the pre-cut flowers.  The middle was cut out with the Labels framelit.