Thank You, Veterans

https://www.va.gov/

We thank you today and everyday.

Take A Moment To Thank A Veteran

When you see someone in a uniform,
Someone who serves us all,
Doing military duty,
Answering their country’s call,

Take a moment to thank them
For protecting what you hold dear;
Tell them you are proud of them;
Make it very clear.

Just tap them on the shoulder,
Give a smile, and say,
"Thanks for what you’re doing
To keep us safe in the USA!"

By Joanna Fuchs

http://www.poemsource.com/veterans-day-poems.html

Glittery Happy Holidays Cards

Today I'm sharing a set of cards I made with 

blank premade, handmade paper cards I bought on clearance

several years ago.

I made these cards months ago,

but never shared them.

The note cards have a glitter green embossed

tree design on them.

I added stamped sentiment panels (Stampin' Up!)

accented with glitter and

layered onto green card stock.

Oh yes,  I made a huge mess making these cards !

Thanks for looking =)

I'm entering my cards in the current Winter Sparkle challenge at Crafting By Designs

Christmas Cards 2 - heat embossing

Today I'm sharing a set of cards I made with 

blank premade, handmade paper cards I bought on clearance

several years ago.

I made these cards months ago,

but never shared them.

The note cards have a shimmery green

"embossed"design on them.

The sentiment (Stampin' Up!)

was heat embossed green.

I ran the edges of the tags

along a Versamark ink pad

then sprinkled on silver embossing powder,

heat set it.

Red grosgrain ribbon and appliques from my craft stash

to finish them off.

Thanks for looking  =)

I'm entering my cards in the current Winter Sparkle challenge at Crafting by Designs

Christmas Cards Assortment 1

I know, I know:

it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I'm sharing Christmas cards.

I've made all of my cards well ahead of time

(many were completed early in the year) and

I decided to share them now.

Perhaps one may spark your creativity

to get your own made if you've not already started ;)  

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards I made with a set of

blank premade, handmade paper cards I bought on clearance

several years ago.

I made these cards months ago,

but never shared them.

I'll share a few different versions over the next several days.

The card bases on some are a bit different.

This set of cards (that came with silver envelopes)

have a shiny green "embossed" design on the paper.

I made five with the felt die cut reindeer

(also bought on clearance several years ago) 

and hand stamped tag (sentiment from Stampin' Up!).

They also have a "faux" glitter brad.

I made one with an image from Scrap N Dipity.

I should have done something differently with the stocking

rather than try to color it with a marker...... 

The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With A View.

Thanks for looking =)

50th Birthday Circle Easel Card

A card I made for an internet "pen pal". 

I printed the 50 out onto white card stock

then carefully trimmed it out with an Xacto knife. 

The numbers are actually leftover from another

50th birthday card I made that became a shaker card. 

Papers, card stock, stamp images, paper clay and mold,

die cut scallop edge card and scallop edge border punch

are all long retired from Stampin' Up!

The fern punch is from Martha Stewart.

Whisper White card stock numbers stamped with

white craft ink and a stampin around wheel

made a nice subtle two tone effect.

Paper clay flower I made and painted with acrylic craft paints.

Side

Back

Thanks for looking =)


I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Crafting By Designs Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door Anything Goes
Use Your Stuff - Take 5  never used designer papers, "paper clay" flower molding kit, multi petal flower punch for the leaves, rarely used tiny birthday sentiment and stampin around wheel I've only used one time that I recall! Bonus: I used the number five on my card AND there are just five words on it ;)

Digitally Made November

Todays' post is a digital image I created for the

 Digitally Made Challenge Blog.

This month's theme is "Thankfulness".

I made my piece in My Memories Suite V8 software

using the Family Gathering digital kit by

JMC Designs.

You have until the end of the month to enter

your 100% digital project 

(no hand made items, please)

at Digitally Made Challenges.

Thanks for looking !

Yoyo Thanksgiving Card

Leaf is a scrap leftover from the window I cut out

on another project (see Kitty's memory box urn).

Fabric yo-yo has been in my crafts stash for years.

Remember when they were all the crafting rage?

Rubber stamp images are oldies from Stampin' Up!

Since I've not mailed this one just yet,

I may add something else to it, it looks kind of "blah"....

Thanks for looking =)

Pumpkin and Leaves Card

Last pumpkin piece I made years ago for

a decorative tissue box cover that I have since

torn apart to repurpose. 

I added a few punched leaves that were

stamped with veins from a leaf stamp. 

Eyelet and organdy ribbon finish off the tag

(stamped with a stipple plaid background stamp

using a Kaleidacolor ink pad)

that is adhered to patterned paper

from Die Cuts With A View. 

Below are images of the box I made so long ago

Fall side

Christmas side.

I made a card out of the Santa piece some time ago.

Thanks for looking =) 

Penguin Ornament

As a design team member for the now defunct 
Making Memories challenge,

I was to use an image from Scrap N Dipity
for the challenge that was scheduled for this month.
Unfortunately, without any notice or explanation
to the DT, the blog and anything online related to
the blog owner dissapeared last month.
I already had my project made and this blog post written
when I discovered the blogs disappearance in early October.
I'm still publishing this project anyway.
Thank you Scrap N Dipity for the image.

I chose one of the Not So Helpful penguins.

http://scrapndipity.com/shop/digital-stamps/holidaysseasons/not-so-helpful-xmas-penguins

Would you like to know how I made my ornament ? Read On!

First of all, using Photoshop Elements I resized 

the digital image to fit inside a glass ornament. 

It was then time to experiment:

I printed it onto a transparency.

The ink jet printer ink wouldn't dry on the transparency,

so I heat set it with black embossing powder. 

The embossing powder made the lines thicker,

which was good because the printed lines were too thin for my liking.

I wanted a bold, coloring book image look.

Yes, there were stray bits of embossing powder that 

melted onto the transparency, but I easily (carefully!)

picked them off with the sharp point of a hobby knife.

I layed a Coluzzle circle cutting system over the image,

then carefully cut a circle around it that would fit

inside the glass ball ornament. I've made this type of 

ornament in the past, so I knew the 4th ring would fit.

If you've never made these, you will probably need to 

cut a few test pieces to see which size will work with 

the ornament you are using.

NOTE: Be sure to cut a little tab at the top

to fit in the neck of the ornament, this keeps

the image in place. 

My coloring medium of choice for making these ornaments

are glossy indoor/outdoor paints. 

Most people use Sharpie markers.

Be sure to paint on the back side of the image so your

lines will show on the front. This photo shows the 

face being painted in, going right over the eyes.

They will be fine when you flip the piece over. 

This is the back of the painted piece, not too pretty I know.

I could go back over the entire piece with a coat of white paint.

Here is the front !

Carefully curl the painted piece, 

paint side inside, so as not to scrape off the paint.

Unfurl inside the ornament, 

keeping the tab in the top/neck of the ornament.

Add "snow" to the inside, 

or whatever other tiny items you may like. 

Place the cap on, making sure the metal tabs

are behind your painted piece.

Attach ribbon and it's done !

On many ornaments I've made similarly to this one,

I've added snow-tex to the top and 

even little tags hanging from the ribbon
(such as the year I made them or names of the recipients).
I've posted several of them on my blog. 

Thanks for looking =) 

I'm entering my ornament in the 
Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door

Simple Leaf Trio Card

Simple card:

image was stamped and heat embossed on copper card stock 

then paper punched out.

The three pieces were adhered onto a strip of

textured black card stock that was then

mounted on top of patterned paper. 

I decided to add copper eyelets to this card after I took the photos.

There is one at each end of the black strip.

Thanks for looking =)