Christmas Cards from Friends

I've received some gorgeous handmade Christmas cards this year that I'd like to share with you. This first one came from my friend, Tracy Houghton in Calgary, AB. Thanks so much, Tracy, I love the easel style.

The funny thing is that I received the next card the same day, another easel card from my friend, Yvonne Balmer who used to live here, but has recently moved to Houston, TX. Thanks so much for brightening up my day with this sweet creation, Yvonne. Miss you!

OK, this is like an easel parade, as this card came from another wonderful friend, Kim Prince. I feel like I'm behind the times as I still haven't made one of these cards. I'll have to try one for the one of the next cards that I make.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Thank You Tri Fold Shutter

I know, I know, another tri fold shutter card...lol  :)   But, I was asked to make a special card for someone who donated a substantial amount to us at work, so I thought I would make another one of these, with some really pretty sparkly and sheen papers.  I hope she likes it!  :)

I'm also submitting this 'winged creation' to the current Stampotique Designer's Challenge.  You can see the current challenge here.  You'll always see some gorgeous work over there and some funny, off the wall creations, too!  I always get a kick out of some of them!  lol  :)  Here's a link to my inlinkz submission.  I hope I did this right!

This is what my card looks like when it's all folded up like a standard A2 style card.

Here's a bit of a close up of the embossed sentiment and the butterflies that I cut out from the patterned paper and popped up off the card.

Here's a view from the top of the card to show you the dimension.

Well, I bought some new paint for my living room to spruce it up since I just got new furniture, so I need to go start taking off the existing wallpaper border and fill the cracks.  By tomorrow I should be able to start the painting.   Finally, after being in our home for 4 years, we're getting around to painting the last room in our house!  We're quite the procrastinators!  lol  :)  Anyway, I think it will look really nice when it's done...off to work! I'll post pics when I'm done.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Thank You - Greetings Galore (Impression Obsession)
Cardstock: Burgundy (Creative Memories), White (Staples)
Patterned Paper: Chocolat Cherie (sei), Pink Swirls (DCWV)
Ink: VersaFine (Tsukineko)
Tools: Scoring Board (Martha Stewart), Embossing Buddy (SU), Embossing Tray, White Opaque Embossing Powder (Stampendous), Heat Tool, Scissors, 3/16" Glue Dot, 1/8" Dimensional Squares (EK Success)

Tri-Fold Shutter Birthday Wishes from Yvonne

I got this gorgeous birthday card yesterday from my friend, Yvonne Balmer. Yvonne knows how much I love these tri-fold shutter cards that she makes. I really need to try one! The sentiments are so nice that she chose, as well. It will certainly be proudly displayed in my home! Thanks again, Yvonne! :)

So, the countdown is on til my birthday on June 10th...I'm hoping for some new Nestabilities ...Scalloped Squares, Scalloped Rectangles and Scalloped Ovals. Hint, Hint, Jim if you're reading! lol :)

Here's a view from the top to show you how it looks when it's opened. You can also fold this card down completely, so it's the size of a standard A2 style of card. Sorry for the dark pic...
Well, it's been a long day, I think I'll turn in early. I'll be back tomorrow with more to show you.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Four Seasons Waterfall Card and a Tutorial

I was asked by a co-worker if I would make her a couple of these waterfall cards, so along with making them, I opted to throw together a quick tutorial on how to make these fun-fold cards in case you'd like to give one a try. Here goes:

Cut a standard A2 Style Base Layer (Blue Bayou) - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and fold in half.
and a layer to put on top (River Rock) - 4" x 5 1/4"

Now, cut the following pieces of cardstock from more Blue Bayou cardstock:
4 - 2" x 2" (4) - These are for your mat layer for your stamped images.
9" x 2" (1) - This is for your waterfall piece that you attach your images to.
3/4" x 4" (1) - This is the strip at the bottom to pull your waterfall piece through.

Now, you'll need some ivory cardstock measuring 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" (4) to stamp your images onto.

Colour in all your images (that's the most time consuming process of this card) and add some Stickles for the snowman and snow on the ground. I let the Stickles dry overnight and then assembled them onto the blue pieces of cardstock.

These are the four seasons images all watercoloured.

The Spring image is on the top, pull the tab to start the waterfall and reveal the Summer image.

Keep pulling the tab and the waterfall effect continues to reveal the Autumn image.

When you pull the tab out fully, you reveal the final Winter image.

Here's a close up of the sentiment.

To see a full tutorial on how to assemble this card, I followed this tutorial.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: A Tree for all Seasons (SU), Curvy Verses (SU)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou (SU), River Rock (SU), Ivory (Staples)
Ink: Jet Black (StazOn), Creamy Caramel (SU), Old Olive (SU), Really Rust (SU), Ruby Red (SU), More Mustard (SU), Close to Cocoa (SU)
Watercolor Wonder Crayons (SU): Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Rose Red
Tools: Thumb Tack (to poke holes for brads), Terrifically Tacky Tape (ProvoCraft)
Embellishments: Antique Brass Brads and Hodge Podge Hardware (SU), Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

Projects from our SU Night

I have lots of things to show you in the the next couple of posts. First, I'll show you the projects we did at our SU get-together on Monday night at Kim's place. Louise was hostess for us and kept us all laughing with a bit of hysterics...perhaps the most silly I've ever seen us all...what was in that coffee, Louise? lol :) Louise also made a couple of Strawberry and Orange Jello Cheesecake pies for dessert....very yummy! We're all waiting for the recipe! Thanks again so much to Yvonne for bringing us some great projects to do for another fun night out! Sorry if we got out of hand again... lol :)

Our first project of the night was a cute little chocolate truffle pouch. A super cute idea as a wedding favor or simply a special little thank you to give to someone. Who doesn't like chocolate and who could resist when they're done up this cute! :)

This is a pic of the little Chocolate Truffle Pouch that we made using a small rectangle of cs, two punched scalloped circles of patterned paper, some double sided tape, and two more rectangles of patterned paper for the chocolate wrappers. We added the eyelets using Yvonne's Crop-o-dile and I had my first 'WOW' moment...my first experience with a Crop-o-dile. Perhaps the birthday fairy will bring me one of those in a couple of weeks, too! lol Then we finished it off with some pretty white sheer ribbon. Super cute!

Here's looking down at it to give you a better view of the laced closure.
This is what the little pouch looks like with the chocolates removed. You attach the scalloped circles on the bottom of the rectangular piece of cs, measuring to have exactly 6 scallops on the bottom side for each scallop.
This was our next project and I liked this one so much I ordered the stamp set that we used for the flower, 'One of a Kind.' I love the way we used dimensional squares to create the flower. Lots of cutting, but worth it in the end for the final effect. It's a flap card where the flap closure goes in back of the stamped flower layer. I really like the 'Stitched' background stamp that was used for this card, too. When I saw it in the catty, I kinda though, yeah, there's nothing special about that, but after using it, I really like it. I didn't order it, but maybe down the road...it's only on the wish list for now.
Here's an angle shot to show you all the dimensions .
This is just the card opened to show you what it looks like from another angle.
This is the beautiful card that Val made for our Card Challenge. I drew Val's name so I got to keep her card, that she actually CASE'd from me so that was kinda funny. Our challenge was to CASE a card from someone else in our group and you could CASE the card in entirety or change a few things on it. I really love the softness about her card and I'm sure you all know that I love butterflies and dragonflies so I was thrilled to get her card. Check out her cool bow, too. I'm gonna have to try to figure it out, she said it's done like you tie a man's tie...now if only I knew how to tie a tie! lol :) Thanks so much, Val! It's a keeper, for sure! :)

This is the card of mine that she CASE'd.
Ok, that was a long post...didn't foresee it being that long...I have some more cards to show you, but I'll create another post for those! lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Cards from SU Workshop

These are the two cards that we made at our Stampin' Up! night last night at Deborah's. I just love the little gift card holder, what a great idea! I've seen these online before, but never took the time to figure out the directions to make one, but they're soooo easy! Can't wait to make more of them...Xmas perhaps!
There's a little pocket in the centre flap to slip a gift card in to. Very cool! :)

This is the Double Slider card that we made. A neat card to make and I can see 'kids birthday cards' written all over this style of card, especially with some bright colours and some cute animal images. I'll have a few of those to do in the future, so stay tuned... :)

This is how the double slider pieces pull up by the tab. Cute, eh? :)

Thanks again to Yvonne for cutting all our cardstock out for us for our projects. It's always fun to see what she has to show us and she always spoils us! Doesn't she girls? We love her, we really shouldn't tease her like we do... Poor, Yvonne! She'll never bring that stamp set again with the little words (that's discontinued) since we all gave her such a hard time that we couldn't buy it! lol :)

Humm, ya think the supper fairies could swing by with a meal for us...I don't really feel like cooking. Well, guess I should go try to devise something to eat. I'll be back on tonight with a new creation.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Fun-Fold Swap Card

This is the card that I made for our 'Girl's Night Out' fun-fold swap challenge. I had fun with this one...after I finally got the directions figured out! lol :) It's not a hard card to make it's just that I'm more of a visual person than trying to read written instructions on how to make something.

Can't wait to see what we'll be making tonight, I'll share tomorrow! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)



Supplies:
Stamps: True Friend (SU)
Ink: Real Red (SU)
Cardstock: Mustard & China Red Linen (Bazzill)
Patterned Paper: Wild Saffron Paper Slab (K & Company)
Embellishments: Red Grosgrain Ribbon (Michaels), Antique Brass Brads (Hodge Podge Hardware - SU)
Tools: Scissors, 1/8" Dimensional Squares, 1" Circle Punch (Creative Memories), Plastic Bag strip for slider part

Fun Tri-Fold

I had fun this morning making this card. I thought I'd try fooling around a bit with my scissors with some freehand cutting. I made a tri-fold card using a 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock, but instead of cutting it to make a normal A2 style of card, I cut it the long way at 5 1/2" and kept the other side at 11". I made my score lines for the folds and the added the Purely Pomegranate and Teal cardstock for each of the layers, cutting each wavy one individually before adding the next layer. I also added the brads to the front of the card before adding my final layer of teal cardstock so as to hide the brad posts.

I've got my next post ready for the card that I made for tonight's fun-fold card swap with our group of friends. I've got it set to post automatically at 7:30 PM so that we'll all be at Deborah's place already so it won't spoil the surprise for any 'peekers' out there! lol :)

Well, I have to get some stuff done before I head out tonight for crafty night. I'll post my projects tomorrow of what we make tonight.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)



Supplies:
Stamps: Embrace Life (SU), Small Script (SU), Italian Poetry Background (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate (SU), Very Vanilla (SU), Teal (Bazzill)
Embellishments: Antique Brass Frame (Hodge Podge Hardware - SU)
Tools: Scissors, Thumb Tack (to punch holes for brads), 1/8" Dimensional Square

A Night Out with the Girls

I had a great night out last night with a bunch of the girls. We headed on over to Catherine's for a SU Party, we had a great time chatting, stampin' and carrying on and eating! Yummy cake, Catherine! :) We made two beautiful cards that I really love. I know, I know, blue again...but it's not my fault! I'm not the one who designed the card! lol :)

Here's the first card that we made. This is my first latch card that I've ever made. I've seen samples of this type of card, but just never got around to making one. I really love this card how it turned out. We used SU Cardstock Vellum....OMG, what awesome vellum! It's such a nice heavy weight, and I think the flowers are gorgeous done on this. We stamped them with black StazOn and then used SU markers to colour in the back side of the flowers and then coloured the stamens on the front side of the flowers. I'm gonna have to get some of this cardstock vellum soon! It was a lot of fun playing with it for sure! :)

Here's a better look at the Vellum flowers.

Here is a view of the latch, in case you're not familiar with this type of card.

This is the second card that we made. I had so much fun playing with the watercolour crayons. They really do such a beautiful job...I'm such a fan of SU WaterColour Wonder Crayons. I 'must' purchase more!!! Why can't I just win the lottery? Wouldn't it make life so much easier? lol :)
Thanks so much for having us all over to play stamps with you, Catherine! lol :)

Kim also bought along some goodies for us to help ourselves to. Things that she had and wasn't using anymore and wanted to see if any of us could use them. We were all like kids in a candy store, I tell ya! lol :) I got some wonderful things to play with, thanks again, so much, Kim! You're a sweetheart! :)

Here's the goodies that I got from Kim - some pretty primas and an assortment of cute chipboard die cuts. Also, some patterned paper and eyelets.
Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Full Bloom Criss Cross Card

I decided to quickly finish this card before I got ready for work. I found this gorgeous double-sided patterned paper the other day, as well, at our lss, Loomis Art Supplies. I thought the flowers were so pretty, again, I couldn't resist! :)

So, this is sympathy card #2 of 4 that I need to make. My friend Kim was joking that it seems that all her cards seem to pink and purple. I said, come to think of it I've noticed that a lot of mine seem to be blue and green. So, I promised Kim that I would try stay away from these colours for a while, but I couldn't help it...Sorry, Kim! I loved the patterned paper and these are the cardstock colours that I had to use with it. lol :)

OK, I really need to go make supper and get ready for work! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: True Friend (SU), 'With Sympathy' is from Greetings Galore (Impression Obsession)
Patterned Paper: Full Bloom (Chatterboxinc)
Cardstock: Whirlpool (Bazzill), Chocolate Weave (Bazzill), Key Lime Flat (CRS)
Ink: Blue Bayou (SU), Certainly Celery (SU)
Embellishments: Antique Cooper Brad (Makin Memories)
Tools: 1 1/2" and 1 1/4" Circle Punchs (Creative Memories), Corner Rounder Punch (SU), small artist paint brush to apply ink to flowers on insert to make stems green and the petals blue.