Merry Christmas Wreath

This is the wreath that I made at a class at Violette's Art Stamp and Scrapbook Store in Lakeland on Sunday. We used Graphic 45 Christmas paper on a star wreath from Kaiser Craft and embellished with ribbons, tags, buttons, and other stuff.

Love, Praise, Live

I made this card using the CTMH stamp set "Treasure Life" and paper from the Club Scrap "Natural Resources" kit. I LOVE this stamp set and it went perfectly with this paper.

Wholly Cats!

I was busy scrapbooking last night, and when I turned around, look who decided to make himself at home on the desk! That's my baby!

Smooth Sailing

Just made this card for my brother. It's one of my favorite CTMH patterns--"Log Cabin" on page 84 of our Originals how-to book. I used Back Country paper, and the center stamp is from Stampin' Up. My brother always loved boats and fishing. Our family spent lots of time at the beach when we were kids. Jay would take off in the morning with his fishing rod and a sandwich, and we wouldn't see him again until supper time. He was a commercial fisherman for a while (with a college degree in ocean engineering!) before entering the business world. Now he is going to be 50! He and his beautiful wife Lisa have raised three great girls, and he still has a boat and loves to fish.

"Twin" Cards

I made these cards for a pair of twins whose birthdays were last week. Both are girls, but they are VERY different, so I made "twin" cards using the same sketch--"Three Elements" on page 18 in Originals, but I used different papers and different stamp sets to suit their different personalities. What do you think?

I'm Baaaaack!

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. We just got back from a trip to North Carolina to visit good friends. We had a blast, but were glad to get home again too!

This card was made using the same design as the previous one, only rotated vertically. I love the way you can make a whole new look by rotating a design!

December 25th Card

I have a love/hate relationship with this card. It is "Lucky Layers" on page 27 of Wishes. I could NOT get the papers to come out straight, and it was driving me crazy! But the addition of a tag sprayed with Glimmer Mist and some funky fibers made it all okay. I love Fun Fur fibers!

I made this card today at a class at Violette's Art Stamp and Scrapbook Store in Lakeland. What do you think? It is made by heat embossing in gold and painting with Tombow watercolor pens, then blending with a water pen. This is one of my favorite techniques! And of course, I HAD to spray it with Glimmer Mist too!

I made this card using an old nutcracker rubber stamp that was my mom's. She was an artist, and she loved stamping too. When I lived overseas, the military post office people always knew when my mail was from my mom because she would stamp and draw all over the envelopes! I lived in Germany and acquired a collection of nutcrackers while I was there so this stamp has multiple layers of meaning for me. Now the nutcracker collection decorates my craft room. My favorite is an artist one that I had given to my mom. She passed away several years ago, and I miss her still. I didn't discover scrapbooking and stamping until very recently, and I often think how much my mom would have loved doing this too!

This card is based on the pattern "Simply Said" on page 17 of Wishes. And--oops!--I forgot to tell you that yesterday's card was "Framework" on page 15. I'm still using the glitter cardstock from My Mind's Eye. (I have a whole stack of it, so you'll be seeing a lot of it coming up). The nutcracker stamp is a retired one from PSX. The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkado. I also used Gold Glimmer Mist on the embellishments. If you love to make cards, but sometimes have a hard time getting started, you would love the Close To My Heart how-to books. The newest one is Wishes. It is full of card ideas, complete with the all paper measurements, AND comes with a CD with templates for everything in the book--including envelopes! You can find Wishes on my CTMH website. Just click on the Close To My Heart icon on the right.

Well, so much for my goal of posting a new card every day! Funny how life has a way of interrupting your creative plans! But at least the bills are paid, the coupons are clipped, I actually got a few cards in the mail, and I can see the top of my desk for the first time all month! This card has the same cardstock and inks as the previous ones. Stamps are from Stampabilities and Hero Arts. I also used glimmer mist on the embellishments--can you see it shimmer in the photo? I love glimmer mist! Happy Christmas in July!

My goal is to create and post a new card every day this month. I am working my way through the new Close To My Heart how-to book Wishes. This card is based on the pattern "Simple Statement" found on page 11. I used glitter cardstock from My Mind's Eye, CTMH cardstock and ink in Barn Red and New England Ivy, and stamps from CTMH and Hero Arts. All of the embellishments are attached with CTMH 3-D foam tape. Come back tomorrow for another card!

Hi, Friends!  If you are reading this, don't laugh!  I am a total newbie to the world of blogging, and I will have to learn as I go.  So this is my first post on my new blog.  This is a photo of a card I made for a Close To My Heart swap.  Let me know if you like it!