Live Your Dreams...

Hi all...we had a really great time for our anniversary. We got rained out of taking the bike to the Botanical Gardens, so we went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I don't want to give alot away so I'll just say if you are an Indy fan you will enjoy it.

I got to work on making some cards the past few days and really wanted to share them with you. I was inspired by this card on Lesly Adams' BLOG Stamp Yourself Silly to create this card. I did change a few things from her card, I took the ribbon away and added some embossed butterflies around my main image. I really do like how this card turned out. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the main image again in Versamark and embossed the flowers and butterflies with Iridescent Ice EP. My main image is attached to the right side of the card.

Stamps: Live Your Dreams
Inks: Cameo Coral, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Papers: Afternoon Tea DP, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Iridescent Ice EP


I have been thinking this set would look great aged so today I came up with this card. I crumpled the background paper up them ran my Creamy Caramel ink pad over it to make it look aged. I also sponged some of the same Caramel ink around the edges. I inked my flowers ups with Pretty in Pink and then sponged Groovy Guava around the outsides of the petals to try to mimic the way the flowers look on the paper. I inked the edges of my mats and did the Crackled Glass technique to age the main image. I did the Rock & Roll technique on the butterfly. I really do like how this card looks. I layered my ribbon between the Chocolate Chip and Groovy Guava mats to add a little interest.

Stamps: Live Your Dreams
Inks: Pretty in Pink, Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa, Garden Green, Versamark
Papers: Afternoon Tea DP, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Ultra Thick EP, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Ribbon

Card Fun

Hi everyone! I've been working hard the past few days and haven't gotten to post any cards...so to make up for that I have cards to post. I was inspired by the card on page 106 of the 2008 Spring/Summer Collection. I did change a few details from the original card. I used Wild Wasabi as my card base, I added an extra layer to the main image and changed the ribbon color. I do really like how this card turned out.

This card was made using the level 2 Hostess set Spring Solitude listed on page 22 of the 2008 Spring/Summer Collection. When I saw this set I instantly thought of the Partridge Family (even though that show was WELL before my time) I knew it would make a fun thank you card.

Today is our 13th anniversary...so in honor of that my SIL is taking the kids for the night so we can have a calm relaxed day and evening. We are planning to visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens today and then have a nice relaxing dinner. I hope everyone has a great weekend and wonderful Memorial Day!

Lilac Gruffies 2

So my first Gruffies card was cute, but I think this one is even better! I changed a few elements and now it has the "umph" I was looking for...I kept the colors the same, but changed the layout a little. I reversed the colors of the mat to make the main image stand out a little more, and made the main image a little smaller so more of the background showed. I punched a scallop out of Pale Plum and lightly sponged Elegant Eggplant onto it to add depth. I also inked Elegant Eggplant around the saying in the middle to make it stand out a little more. The whole scallop is raised with dimentionals. I moved the ribbon down so the knot wouldn't compete with the saying and used my word window punch to add the rest of the saying behind the CB'ed panel. A mini sugar brad finishes it off nicely I think. I really like this re-vamped card and can't wait to see what you think!!

Lilac Gruffies

So I finally broke down and purchased my first 2 Gruffies stamps from House Mouse. I have been looking at all the great cards Lee makes with her mousies and just couldn't resist any longer. I got the Lavender Bouquet and Bit of Honey. I'm not sure why this is called Lavender Bouquet being these are lilac blossoms, but whatever...I am participating in a swap on SCS where we are all using these types of stamps and this is the card I came up with.

I really like how the colors came together on this. The base is Garden Green stamped in tone on tone with a paisley stamp from Hero Arts and has a Pale Plum layer that has been run through the Cuttlebug using the paisley folder and then brayered with Elegant Eggplant to bring out debossed images. I colored in the main image using my Prismacolor pencils and then blended the colors using the Gamsol Technique. I added some lilac stickles to the blossoms to help add definition to them. The lilac ribbon helps finish off this card.

I like how this came out, but still feel it is missing something...if only I could put my finger on it. I would love any imput you have on what this card is missing.

Watercolor Card

I came across an awsome card made by Julie Buhler a few months ago and have been playing with replicating her technique. I don't think I have it down completely yet, but it is oh so fun to do. Here is her great card along with the instructions. Here is my humble attempt...I used a retired set called And Everything Nice stamped in Stazon Black and colored with Stampin' Write Markers. I created the clouds in the sky by sponging Soft Sky ink over a scalloped punch. I did light shading on the sky with Blue Bayou. The card base is Blue Bayou and I used a non-SU! corner punch to hold the main image in place. I am going to have to keep practicing this technique until I am able to get a card as nice as Julie's...Thanks for looking!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hi everyone!! Happy belated Mother's Day!! I had a great Mother's Day weekend...on Sat we took the family to see Iron Man, went to Lowe's to get our annual Mother's Day flowers and went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner...the company was great and the food was alright I guess...on Sunday I got to have a quite relaxing day. I wanted to share the Mother's Day cards I made this year...both cards were made using the same colors, papers, inks, stamps & accessories. I love how they look similar yet different. The card on the left is the one I sent to my mom for Mother's Day and the one on the right went into my sample stash...

Stamps: Pick a Petal, All Holidays
Papers: So Saffron, Ruby Red, So Saffron DS
Inks: Ruby Red, Summer Sun
Accessories: Pretties Kit

Family Weekend

Hi there! We had a really fun-filled weekend, we got to visit with my mom, who lives in South Carolina, go to a wedding and travel to Meta MO to visit my great-great aunt. I think I put more miles on my car this past weekend than I have in the past 2 months...

My mom and her husband haven't been up from SC in a couple of years so we did have a good time getting to catch up with them. They came up for her step-son's wedding which was last Saturday. We had a good time there. It was an outdoor wedding and the trees and flowers were in full bloom and the temperature was great! Then on Sunday we traveled to Meta, which is about 30 min from Jefferson City. It was a 2 - 3 hour ride in each direction. We had such a good time visiting with Aunt Camilla, you would never guess she was almost 90 by the way she acts. She is still very active on her property and in her church. We went looking for mushrooms, but didn't find any...Danny found lots of turkey feathers and a turtle shell that he got to take to school for show and tell. Here is a picture of all of us...

Camilla has the most wonderful lilac and wisteria growing around her property so I made her a lilac thank you card for the great visit.

I did the Faux Linen technique for this card to give it a wonderful aged look...I love this swirled pattern from the Prints Designer Series Paper from SU! and decided to use the Always Artichoke to mat my image and Certain Celery to accent the card. I stamped my image first onto the glossy cardstock then sanded vertically and horizontally. I took alot of color off as well adding my linen look. After I wiped the dust away I ran my Creamy Caramel inkpad all over the image and then buffed it with a paper towel. I really like how this Styled Silver Hodgepodge Harware looks and really wanted to incorporate it into my card, so I went looking through my retired sets and came across this from the Designer Label set, that originally came with the label punch. I didn't like the look of just brads holding the label on so I punched a hole in the middle of my ribbon and put the brad through it. Then I attached the brads to the card and finally tied my knots. I'm really liking how this card came out! I hope Camilla likes it as much as I do!!

• Stamps: Blossoms Abound, Designer Label
• Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel
• Papers: Pale Plum, Glossy White, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke DS, Certain Celery DS
• Accessories: Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Mellow Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Sanding Blocks