Greeting Card Holder

As part of a baby shower gift, I made fifteen "Thank You" cards for the mother to be. I used the "Baby, We've Grown" set from Stampin' Up! and made each card different (scroll to bottom of post to see all fifteen). I then needed a nice way to present the cards and found a really nice tutorial with step-by-step instructions from Amy Kolling. Since I had so many cards with raised surfaces I had to modify her design which ultimately created a holder 3" thick.

 

SBC - Sketch #424

Here is my layout for Scrapbook Challenges sketch #242.  These photos were taken back in December at the Military Bowl in Annapolis, MD. Can you believe we actually made it into the ESPN shot?

OWH - Sketch #247

Here is this week's card for Operation Write Home's sketch #247. For this card I used Stampin' Up's new "Baby, We've Grown" set. I also made 15 variations of this card to give as a baby shower gift. I'll be posting those soon.

Movie Ticket Holder

Before Christmas I bought a bunch of movie tickets from Costco and as luck would have it they did not arrive in time to give as gifts. So I decided to create movie ticket holders to give as thank you gifts throughout the year. The base is made from a standard number 8 tag die. All the cardstock is from SU.

OWH - Sketch #246

Here is my card for Operation Write Home's sketch #246. The background paper if from SU's "Adventure Bound" Paper Stack and the tree is from the classic "Lovely As A Tree" stamp set circa 2001.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2015 (Jan)

I hope all of you are having a great start to the New Year. This is officially the first crafty thing I've done in 2015 and I'm so happy to be participating in Tim's monthly tags for the 4th year in a row.  For those of you that may be visiting my blog for the first time you should know that I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and I try to use all SU products when possible. For Tim's January tag I used all SU products including stamps, ink, cardstock, vellum, buttons, and ribbon.  If you're interested in seeing my year end summary for previous years you can click here: 2014, 2013, and 2012.

12 Tags of 2014 - Year In Review

Last year was my third year participating in Tim Holtz's monthly tag challenge. As many of you know I try to use Stampin' Up! products when possible so I have to do a lot of improvising when using Tim's techniques. Needless to say I am always thrilled with the results and love the extra challenge. Below are my tags starting with January. Enjoy!

SBC - Sketch #421

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! Here is my layout for Scrapbook Challenges sketch #421. All of the papers used are from Stampin' Up! The title and the road embellishments were free png files I found online.

Merry Christmas!

Here is this year's Christmas card. The idea came from Pinterest (of course). Credit goes to Paula Reid, a fellow SU demonstrator. The Wondrous Wreath stamp set and coordinating dies are from SU.

SBC - Sketch #422

Here is my layout for Scrapbook Challenges sketch #422. The background paper is from Stampin' Up! and the embellishments are from various sources.

Christmas Card Preview

For the last decade or so I have been making my own Christmas Cards using supplies from Stampin' Up! Over the years, some of them have been very elaborate and I've often found myself asking, "What on earth was I thinking?" For the last few years I have been getting my card ideas from Pinterest and they've been much more practical and have not required extra postage. So, here is a preview of this year's card.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2014 (Dec)

Here is the final tag for Tim's 12 Tags of 2014. The deer was a free printable that I inked in gold and then embossed in clear embossing powder with touches of classy copper on the edges. The red ribbon was off of a gift and the green yarn is leftover from one of my mother's knitting projects. The gold button is from SU and the words are from Tim Holtz. All inks and papers are from SU.

SBC - Sketch #420

Happy Saturday! My niece won her 4th/5th grade spelling bee and will be moving on to the County wide competition in January. I used sketch #420 from Scrapbook Challenges.

SBC - Sketch #418

Here is a quick layout that I did for Scrapbook Challenges sketch #418. These are our two adopted lab mix rescue dogs...and no, they're not related but looking very serious. The wordart cluster is a freebie that I got from Meagan's Creations.

SBC - Sketch #416

Here is my layout for sketch #416 from Scrapbook Challenges. This is a picture of my brother and his family taken in mid-October 2014.

Photo Contest 2014

Every year the Daily Press in Victorville, CA runs a photo contest for amateur photographers. The theme of this year's contest was Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall. This year two of my photos received an honorable mention. Can you guess which two were selected?

OWH - Sketch #242

Here is this week's card for Operation Write Home's sketch #242. The butterfly is from SU's "Wonderful Wings" set (circa 2001). I embossed it with Classy Copper embossing powder and cut the image into 3/4" strips.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2014 (Nov)

Here is this month's tag for Tim's November challenge. The leaf stamp is from Stampin' Up's "Autumn Splendor" set. Since I did not have a coordinating leaf die, I cut the leaf out with an exacto knife.

Owl Punch - Card Swap

For this month's card swap I used the SU owl punch again. This time I cut off the ears of the owl to create the turkey and used a flower die to create the feathers. The beak is from the tip of a star and the wattle is half of a heart. For more great ideas I recommend going to Pinterest.

SBC - Sketch #413

This is a quick page that I did for Scrapbook Challenges sketch #413. I used a free cluster from Paty Greif to frame the photo.

OWH - Sketch #238

Here is this week's card for Operation Write Home's sketch #238. The tag is adhered with a strip of velcro so it can be removed by the recipient and used as a bookmark or a keepsake.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2014 (Oct)

Happy Fall! Here is my tag for October's challenge from Tim. The witch is from SU's "A Howling Good Time" set and was colored using SU's Write Markers. I cut the spider out using my silhouette and covered both the witch and the spider with Crystal Effects. The embellishments, paper and inks are also from SU.

National Black Dog Day

Black animals altogether, are the least adoptable pets in shelters because of their color. All too often, black dogs are overlooked because of many stigmas such as; the color black is evil (the same stigma that cats have), black dogs do not show up as well in photographs as muti-colored or light colored dogs and black dogs look scary and intimidating because you cannot see their facial expressions as easily, etc. They are easily overlooked when people are searching for a new dog and the first to be euthanized in overcrowded conditions.

This special day is devoted to creating public awareness about these beautiful, shiny fur babies that offer just as much unconditional love as any other dog and deserve just as much love back. Black dogs also show off colorful accessories much better than any lightly colored dog! Try buying your black dog a neon green or hot pink collar!

Please adopt a black dog and show the world how much light they have inside and out!

OWH - Sketch #240

Happy first Sunday of Fall 2014! Can you believe it? Here is my card for this week's sketch from Operation Write Home. I used Stampin' Up's new photopolymer set called "Yee-haw".