Mixed Bunch Hybrid Retirement Card

I was going to use one of my many cards already made to give as a retirement card. As I was looking for a sentiment to put inside, I came across this one and knew I had to make a new card:

May your biggest need in retirement be a calendar because you have so many retirement activities to pursue.

I knew immediately I was going to make a fresh card using a calendar somehow.

This finished card is 4.75" x 6".

I decided to use My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! to make the calendar and the greeting on the front. The calendar is a 5.5" x 6.5" page, reduced in size to about 4.25" x 5.5" . The greeting is made with the Word Play digital stamp set in Regal Rose ink, portions of it covered with square punches filled with Whisper White. The word RETIREMENT is simply a text box and text.

I cut the tag that the greeting is on by hand with scissors.

I used an ink pen to write the events on the calendar days and circle the dates. 

I wanted to add thin black lines on the striped ribbon, but the Sharpie marker bled into the fibers a bit making it look sloppy. I didn't take the time to try to draw on another piece of ribbon then immediately heat set it to see if that would work, I needed to get it done since the party was in a couple of hours ! This was quickly turning into a 5 hour card, geesh. I probably should have just picked another sentiment, a simple "Congratulations" would have worked, and used one of my pre-made cards. Better yet, I should have looked for sentiments sooner than the day of the party so I would not have been rushed to make the new card to fit the sentiment I wanted to use ;) 

After looking at the completed project when photographing it to write this post, I wish I would have used a smaller butterfly attached near the flower rather than the larger one on the opposite side. Not the first time, nor will it be the last, for me to rethink what I made when it is finished. 

I stamped the inside of the card and made a matching envelope with the Mixed Bunch stamp set and classic inks from Stampin' Up!.

All supplies, unless noted otherwise, are from Stampin' Up!

card stock:

Whisper White

Regal Rose

Basic Black

Barely Banana

Certainly Celery (not really, but it looks almost like it)

ink:

Rose Romance

So Saffron marker for butterfly

inkjet printer

stamps:

Mixed bunch with coordinating paper punch

Beautiful Wings embossing die

Striped ribbon, unknown manufacturer

glitter glue

Thanks for looking =) 

Pear Birthday Card

Another super old sample I came across .

I sent it and the old Petal Prints card I posted the other day

to a couple of my aunts who had birthdays recently.

All images, card stock and inks are retired from Stampin' Up!

The pear on this card was originally a solid Summer Sun color.

It was really flat and boring looking -

no wonder I never used it for anything, found it hidden 

in a long forgotten box of old cards

and parts of unfinished projects.

I made a mask out of scrap paper then carefully sponged on

a little bit of More Mustard ink.

I also added some green ink.

I think that improved it !

Petal Prints Birthday Card

All supplies from Stampin' Up!, most are retired now.

Petal Prints stamp set

"for you" is from a greeting set but I don't recall which one

Ruby Red, Summer Sun, Naturals and basic Black card stock

Ruby Red, Summer Sun ,Garden Green and Basic Black ink

spritzer bottle with water

Yellow ribbon is not from Stampin' Up!

Color the rubber stamp with water based markers then lightly spritz 

with water before stamping onto your card stock.

This will create a water colored look.

Thanks for looking =) 

Mmmmmmaters

The cherry tomatos seem to be doing just fine :)

NOT the yellow.........

or the heirloom red. Sigh............... 

so sad to throw away so may 'maters. 

I've had two red ones come off

 the plant okay - and boy were they good even though

they were only the size of a small tangerine. 

These are the plants, they are loaded

with lots of tomatoes, but the larger ones 

have the rotten bottoms. 

I've removed all the rotten ones from the plants, again. 

I am NOT going to water them for a few days 

to see if maybe that helps. Perhaps the soil they are in

this year is retaining moisture more than I realize,

despite the drought and extreme heat we are having,

and that is the problem. 

Printer Tray Project - My Pets

Remembering my buddies.................

I received this adorable printer tray as a gift last Christmas (Thanks, Margy!!).  It is manufactured by 7 Gypsies and was bought from Joann.com . I decided to make a collage of my pets, three of which are no longer with us, so I could display it year round . 

The first step to this project is to measure each opening to know how small the photos and card stock pieces need to be. After taking all of the measurements, I set the tray nearby as I looked through my digital photos. Having the tray nearby to refer to helped me to pick out a few favorites to fit each space. I spent hours trying to pick and arrange photos then hours more cropping and reducing them to print. I don't have the images and names aranged in particular groups as I had intended to do since it was too difficult finding photos to fit the spaces. So they are all jumbled up. This project did take quite a bit of time overall, but it was worth it =) 

All supplies used, unless otherwise noted, are from Stampin' Up!

Stamp Sets:

Meow Meow

Bow Wow

Alphadots (Ringo)

Little Letters (Kitty)

Classic Alpha (Mulligan)

Outline Alpha (Cassie)

Card stock:

Whisper White

Going Gray

Basic Black

Inks:

Basic Gray

Whisper White Craft

Versamark

Black embossing powder

Copper embossing powder

Crystal effects

Red glitter

Basic Black marker

Signo White Gel Pen

Assorted ribbon scraps

Brad, ribbon slide

Sticky Strip

circle punch

dimensionals

bleach

tiny paint brush

glossy acrylic craft paints

Stampin' Sponge

Cassie 

Use Versamark ink to stamp the letters onto Basic Black card stock.

Heat emboss with copper embossing powder.

Carefully paint bleach inside the embossed lines to change the color of the black card stock.

Doodle a line around the edge of the card stock with the white gel pen (I should have used a metallic pen if I had one).

Carefully dab bits of paint into the grooves of the flower brad with a toothpick. Gently wipe across the ridges to remove extra paint and allow the silver to show through. Do the yellow center first, allow to dry then do the white petals. I really like to do this to otherwise plain debossed metallic items.

Once the flower brad is dry, cut a piece of ribbon to fit around card stock. Punch a small hole where the brad is to go through the card stock. Pinch the ribbon together, placing the ribbon between the prongs of the brad and push them back together. Insert the prongs through the hole , sandwiching the pinched ribbon between the card stock and back of the brad. Open the prongs on the back side of the card stock to hold in place. Use sticky strip to adhere the ribbon ends to the back of the card stock.

Mulligan 

Stamp the letters with Versamark ink onto Going Gray card stock then heat emboss with black embossing powder. Stamp paw prints with Basic Gray ink. Lightly sponge Gray ink around the edges of the card stock. Wrap ribbon around card stock and adhere tails to back with sticky strip.

Ringo 

Stamp images from the Meow Meow stamp set with Versamark ink onto Basic Black card stock. Heat emboss with black embossing powder. Stamp and heat emboss Alphadots letters onto Whisper White card stock, punch out. Attach to black card stock with dimensionals.

Kitty

Stamp and heat emboss black letters onto Going Gray card stock. Sponge edges of card stock with Whisper White craft ink. Wrap a strip of ribbon around card stock , adhere ends to back. Cut a small piece of ribbon and run through ribbon slide, attach to ribbon wrapped around card stock with hot glue. 

Stamp sayings onto Whisper White card stock with Versamark ink.

Heat emboss with black embossing powder.

Add lines or dots around the edges of the card stock with the black marker.

Fill in hearts with Crystal Effects then pour on red glitter. 

Tap off excess and set aside to dry.

I wrapped pieces of ribbon around handle at top and hot glued on a button. 

I may go back and all all sorts of strips of ribbon to the entire handle......

Thanks for looking =) 

My Digital Studio Fireworks Scrapbook Pages

Nothing too spectacular, easy to create with My Digital Studio.

• Textured Basic Black card stock
• Whisper White and Real Red card stock
• Fireworks stamp image from the Calendar Kit add on set
• Whisper White, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Summer Sun colors
• Star punch
• Stars and Stripes font found on the internet

Happy Fourth Card 2

This was a fun card to design and make !

The lighting was terrible when I took the patriotic project photos, 

so they aren't the best and don't show some of the detail clearly.

This is a red, white and navy blue card. 

I made a "4" stencil from scratch, traced it onto card stock

then cut out the pieces with scissors.

The fold is at the top of the "4".

The red was run through the Stripes embossing folder from Stampin' Up!.

The navy blue has several small star shaped punches glued on top

to make a dimensional look (difficult to see in the photos). 

Two little red stars have red glitter applied.

A paper piercer was used along the edges of the white strip.

Navy ink to stamp "th" on white card stock then hand cut;

red ink for "happy". Rubber stamp images are from Stampin' Up!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY !

Americana Angel Card

I think this may have been the first time these stamps were inked up! 

They are from an old Stampin' Up! set, Americana. 

I have used the adorable teddy bear image in it before,

but not many of the other pieces.

All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

• Naturals card stock
• Baroque Burgundy card stock and ink
• Night of Navy card stock and ink
• More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Going Gray, Blush Blossom                             and Basic Brown inks
• Blender pen (I normally use a water color brush for water coloring with my ink pads)
• super thin strips of card stock that I crinkled up to attach behind the brad
• gold star brad (unknown) colored with a brown Sharpie marker then wiped off 
• distressing tool (or the edge of scissors) to distress card stock edges

thanks for looking =) 

Suspended Star Patriotic Card

The star shaped Movers and Shapers die and 

coordinating large star punch

from Stampin' Up! made it easy

to create this fun card. 

 The middle size star (silver) is an old McGill punch.

The tiny star (red) is a really old punch ordered from Betty Crocker

points many, many years ago. 

Anyone else remember saving points to turn in (with cash) 

for merchandise from Betty Crocker / Pillsbury / etc ? 

I bought a few things from them long ago.

A tiny paper punch set was one of them.

At the time I'd never seen card making, scrapbooking.

I bought them thinking the kids would like to play with them.

20+ years later the kids never once used them. 

Both embossing folders are from Stampin' Up!

Stripes - used on red card stock card front

Lattice Squares - used on navy card stock star punch outs

Silver glitter glue on the medium star punch out.

Silver star eyelet, unknown manufacturer.

Fishing line to adhere the stars to, 

making them appear to float in the cut out opening.

Use super sticky double sided tape to attach

the fishing line between the layers of the card front.

Use the same tape to attach the two largest stars

to each other with the fishing line sandwiched in between.

You can see the steps used to make a similar card,

but using hearts, posted here.

Thanks for looking =)

Flower Fireworks Card

I'm not sure that I shared this card.

I made it a long time ago as a sample

and finally mailed it out this year.

All supplies used were from Stampin' Up!

The fireworks are made by stamping a bold flower image

from an old stamp set with Versamark ink 

onto Basic Black card stock. I then lightly applied

Pearlex Powders to the sticky ink. 

Brilliant Blue, Real Red and Whisper White card stocks

Brilliant Blue ink

Red brads

Modern Label (I think?) punch 

Thanks for looking =)