Cards Cards Cards

I've been getting into stamping lately, something I thought I'd never do.  I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos, and buying a lot of stamps and inks and dies. Cardmaking is rewarding because it's something I can actually finish in one sitting usually. I've been trying to make up enough cards to get through a year of birthdays and other occasions so I will have cards on hand when I need one. I don't have enough yet but I'm still working on it!  Here are some I have made recently.

I am beginning to get a little Stampin' Up! collection, but there are so many different companies I love, that I can't commit to just one. These first three cards use mostly Stampin' Up stamps.

 

I love roses! The two- and three-step stamps are challenging for me, but are so pretty with the different shades of inks.

 

These roses I colored with Spectrum Noir markers.

   

Two looks from the same die. The first one is inked with a sponge and the second one is cut from foil paper.

For this one, I followed a sketch from CardzTV.

I decided I was using too much pink so I should make some other colors! ;)

I got a Gina K Designs card kit for my birthday in May and I followed some of her tutorials for making cards with it.  All of the stamped images were colored using Spectrum Noir markers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now! I've sent some of these out already, and there are others I made that I didn't include here. I have several other projects that I did over the summer that I want to share next.

Tote Bags

I tend to make gifts with a similar theme. Recently my theme was tote bags.

I made this bag for my daughter's piano teacher. I had been eyeing that rose trim at Hobby Lobby for months. Finally I knew exactly what to use it on! Everyone knows I don't (cant!) sew, so of course it is glued on with fabric glue, haha!  The verse was purchased from the Silhouette store and cut on green holographic heat transfer vinyl.

This bag was made for my friend who loves dogs and is very involved in dog rescue organizations. I used a silver sequin trim around the top and black and red heat transfer vinyl. It hung in my craft room for a very long time because I thought it needed something else, but I couldn't get her to tell me her favorite color. I just knew she doesn't care a lot for red so even though something red would match the "love," I didn't want that. I finally found this big black flower and decided it would be perfect.

My daughter's friend's 16th birthday was coming up and she wanted me to make her "something Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman!" because that's her favorite show. Let me tell you, there's not much Dr. Quinn merchandise or quotes to get ideas from.  I looked forEVER and finally found an "I (heart) SULLY" picture and, since I had another bag left over, thought it would work. I traced a drawing of Sully - that thing was a beast to weed, he has a lot of hair! In fact, I gave up weeding and just left it how it was because it was beginning to rip in places. I used the same gorgeous rose trim that I used on the black bag.  I think it turned out OK and she loved it!!

It's always fun trying to get pictures of my stuff - this is my cat, Luna, knocking down the display board with the bag as I was trying to photograph it. Silly kitty.  More kitty photobombs to come in future posts!!

I have some different tote bags I picked up that I hope to work on soon, once I figure out what to put on them. I've been in a card making mood lately though so I'm thinking my next post might (hopefully) be cards.

50th Birthday Party

My husband celebrated the BIG 5-0 a week before Christmas. He's not one for surprise parties, but I couldn't let the day go by as a normal birthday, so we had a little surprise party with just our family of four. He worked that day, giving us time to decorate, but got off a little early. We waited in the dining room and when he came in, we jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!" He WAS surprised and genuinely loved it.
  

I found that black and white chevron wrapping paper for 50% off in the Christmas section at Hobby Lobby! That paper doesn't look very Christmas-y to me, does it to you?

My goal was to have 50 presents for him to open, but, being the week before Christmas, I had a hard time with that! So I settled for 25 presents, making him feel younger ;)

Can you believe that is actually 50 kisses in that cup? It is!

50 sucks! I made all the centerpiece sticks with my Silhouette Cameo.

The banner was a Silhouette file.

We added the balloons shortly before he got home so they wouldn't go flat too soon.

And...my favorite thing. I agonized for hours --days!-- on what to put on the cake when suddenly a lightbulb went off.  It was so simple! I made a devil's food cake (because being 50 is...you know...haha!).  Records have always been his favorite form of music and he has been regrowing his collection lately.  I cut a black sugar sheet using my Silhouette Cameo in the shape of a record with the word "ROCKS" cut out.  I used a light up color changing "50" candle holder in the center.

It was a fun birthday!