Giving Thanks

It's hard to believe the holidays are upon us once again!  This Thanksgiving what are you truly grateful for?  What would you have if you woke this morning with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?  No matter what is going on in your life right now, there is someone else going thru something just as devastating to them.  The best way to get your mind off the negative is to think and focus on the positive.  Quick!  List 3 things you can be thankful for and of someone you could bless.  Now do it!  You will find that it helps you take the focus off your situation and you might see that it's not so bad and you can make it through it.

Here is a rendition of another card I have done before with a few minor changes.  I have always loved the Top Note Die because it's so versatile.  Here I've paired it up with the En Frances BG stamp and some designer paper punched with the 1" circle and Oval punch.  Stamped my saying and tied it off with some hemp twine.

Being "So Grateful" I used the Wood grain embossing folder along with some Designer Paper and topped it off with the leaf stamp from Lovely as a Tree set.  One stamp set that has NEVER gone out of style since I've been with SU!

 

Paired Acorns...

Okay, you can't tell me these guys aren't cute!!!  I've done 2 themes with them...one as a birthday and another as a thanks.  Can you ever have too many "Thank You and Birthday" cards?  Who doesn't love a thank you now and then?  And everyday is a birthday whether it's an "un" birthday or an actual birthday...  Yes, I have given out "un" birthday cards...  brings a smile to a face!

These cards use some retired colors, More Mustard and Ruby Red, along with Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, and Chocolate Chip.  I'm finding out that I love all the different things you can use punches for.  Cudos to all those girls that take the time to play and share the different ways to use them!!!  For the acorns I am using the retired decorations punch along with the oval punch as the acorn topper.  Added some googlie eyes and some ribbon for a stepped up factor and Waa La!  Here we are a couple of paired acorns!!!

Halloween 2014

Well my Halloween posts are a little late, but hey, better late than never!  Had a lot of fun with the girls making these cards...  I believe greens and purples were theme of these cards as it turned out.  Not intentionally, just happened that way.

Can I just say I am loving the owl punch and all the wonderful things I see done with it!!!  I've been sharing the different uses with my girls and they are starting to see this too...  Any way, here we've taken the owl and turned him upside down using the silver glitter paper making him into a ghost!  Added a moon in the background with a tattered "happy haunting" along the bottom.

Done a few cards similar to this over the years and all this time never done a "Bride of Frankenstein"!  I mean who doesn't love Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein!  If you like comedies and haven't seen this movie, you should!  Take your regular "Frankie" and add the silver streak (glitter) take the Fringe Scissors and cut some eyelashes!  Waa La!    Gotta say I am loving these scissors and so are the girls.  Last workshop I held all but one ordered them!

And last, but not least is my favorite card due to the theme of it... Wicked!  I am a Once Upon A Time junkie and I just had to do this card and call it Wicked after season 3's Wicked Witch of the West (who turned out to be Regina's (the evil queen) long lost half sister!)  I am so glad I bought this dress die because I love it!!!  Made the hat using the Petite Pennants Builder Punch and the Word Window Punch.  The bats were used by punching just the edge of the Butterfly Punch wing adding a pearl for some bling and I used the Designer Typeset Polymer letters for the word.

First Vehicle

Here is a page long in the making....  Quintin worked all summer roofing when he was 15 and saved his money to buy himself a vehicle.  His uncle was selling his truck and it all worked out for him to buy it with cash!!!  He was so proud of it.  Lasted him 3 years till he bought another vehicle.  Will never forget his first, paid in full, on his own truck!!!

Hello There...

Hello there!  I know it's been a while, but oh my goodness where does the time go?  I made this card up for my Grandma who loves butterflies!!!  I got the die cut butterfly years ago that I just happen to come across laying in a pile of "I'm going to make a card from this soon" stuff.  Yea, well so what if it's been years...I still finally made a card from it!  One thing from the pile done...  :)

I added the Hello There stamp and then some ribbon along the bottom to dress it up some.  Cute and simple!!!

Apples of Thanks

Here is the last "Old School" themed card...I call it the Apples of Thanks card.  And if the apples look familiar they should.  I used them a couple of years ago on another card.  I embossed the background with the woodgrain folder and the apples from the now retired tab punch.  An apple a day keeps the doctor away...

File Folders

Super cute card!  I came across how to make the file folder cards on, you guessed it, Pintrest!  I did use an old stamp set on this card, Defining Alphabet.  Of course I picked  a stamp that was a bit, what shall I say, tricky even with the stamp-a-ma-jig!  Who remembers the papers from kindergarten and first grade that we used  when we first was learning to write our letters?  If you look closely you can see that even with use of the stamp-a-ma-jig the lines didn't quite line up all the way.  Oh well, that is what makes it a card from the heart!

#2 Pencil

Love this cute pencil card!  This is totally a "Old School" themed card if I do say so myself!  Who remembers having to have #2 pencils only for tests?  What about the pencils that you had to sharpen unlike the ones today that you just push the eraser and the lead comes out and you just fill it back up when empty!  I always hated taking tests and pushing a bit too hard and the lead breaking...tell me that you aren't thinking back on school time memories!!!

School Bus

"The wheels on the bus go round and round..."  Tell me this song does not go through your head when you see this card!  So awesome that the little label punch was the perfect size for the windows.  I also used some retired washi tape as flowers along the road just to spruce the card up a bit.  It's hard to believe that another school year has started again.  Where did the summer go? 

O R E O

Saw this card on pintrest and thought it was cute.  One of my ladies from Therapy Card Nite saw it too and asked about making one.  Well why not as it is a pretty scrumptious card!  Who does not love OREO's and a glass of milk?  This went great with the "Old School" theme that I had for September.  Makes me want to run out and get some OREO's...

Fishes of the Sea

Another card to remind me of the ocean...I think I am having Florida withdraws...  Anyway, the theme for August was Wet~n~Wild so here is another water card.  Came across the ornament punch fishes and just knew I had to make these.  They are so cute with the wiggly eyes!  I used the dots embossing folder for the underwater background with a great big air bubble for the saying.  Super cute, fun, and easy!

Enjoying the View

Came across this card and just had to CASE it!  I love the ocean and this card reminded me of sitting and watching the waves.  Seeing this card I can almost hear the waves and smell the salty air with seagulls flying overhead.  I just loved the idea of using the butterfly punch for the body of the lady!  I do think this is a card I will make when I am longing for the ocean...

Beach Body Suits

I have binder full of templates and ideas that I have collected of the years and I finally got it out and went thru it and found some to bring out again.

A bikini swimsuit like this I will never be able to wear, but I can have fun making and sending them to friends!  It's been a few years since I've made these for fun or for Therapy Card Nite so I figured it was time to make them again!  Most of the girls in class are newer and never made them so needless to say they enjoyed them alot!  

Secret Sister Reveal...

I finally signed up for another round of Secret Sisters with SCS.  I forgot how much I loved doing this...I mean who does not like getting "Happy Mail" every week!!!  Always so much better than bills or junk mail.  It's nice to know someone is thinking of you.

Anyway, this round has sadly come to an end and so this is my reveal package that I made for my Secret Sister.  The "camera" purse contains dark chocolate covered almonds and the little treat box has 2 colored embossing powders in it.  I tied it all together with the camera card.  I hope she enjoys her coordinating reveal package.

Cowboy invites...

Oh wow!  I couldn't believe I went over a month without posting!!!  It's hard to believe that time can get away from one so quickly...  Not that I didn't think to myself  "Hey I need to remember to post this card today/tomorrow" when I was taking a minute to upload it my computer!  Well, here I am taking the time to upload all the cards I have downloaded to my computer.  I will start with one of the latest download...

 So I had a friend wanting some "Cowboy" themed invitations for their sons birthday so after searching for some ideas I cased a few to share with her.   

The first was a punched art cowboy with the embossed woodgrain background.  I used the canvas bg stamp to help give some texture to his pants and heat embossed his beltbuckle.

The second one I partially cased uses a paisley emboss folder that I rubbed over with white craft ink.  I once again used the canvas background on the lower half then added the "HOWDY PARTNER".  

After deciding that the first one was a bit too busy for her she chose the simpler second one.  We had a great time making these up and they ended up being a big hit!

Feel Better Puppy!

This puppy is sooo adorable I couldn't resist making him!  This is another case card with the theme changed and the puppy in different colors...  I made this one and sent it to my aunt who had a double knee replacement to cheer her up.  She loved it.  The girls at card nite enjoyed this card too.  Maybe not so much making this one as just liking it once it was done.  It did take a bit of time and alot of punching to make this puppy!  LOL pun intended!!!  Good thing SU came out with the shredding scissors otherwise it would of been time consuming cutting out the grass too! 

Minion Carl!

Who doesn't love Despicable Me and the Minions!  I love them all even the evil ones.  They are sooo funny!!!  That is why when I came across one that had two eyes, I knew I had to make a Carl!  Got to use my wonderful glitter silver paper on this card.  I mean come on, who doesn't like glitter!!!  Guess it almost time to make a Jerry or Kevin!!!  

Simple Navy & White Birthday

Cased this card due to the beautiful simplicity of it!  Changed up the theme to make it a birthday card.  It's always nice to have some clean simple cards.  Used Pennant Parade and  Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets along with the chevron embossing folder.

3 Cheers for You!

Love this set called "Happy Hour"!  It has all kind of drink glasses for any occasion year round!  And if you don't drink you can just use the words like I did on the second one.  I used the square lattice embossing folder to give it that extra touch!

Casual Day...

 Made this for Therapy Card Nite a few months ago for a guy card/ father's day card.  It ended up coming in handy for a *snif* goodbye guy card.  One of my bosses had a great opportunity come his way and so he said goodbye to Kohl's.  It came as a shock to everyone!  He was a great boss that will be missed by all.  Even his squirrel collection!  LOL

Anyway, this is cased off a card I seen a while back that I really liked.  It's hard to come up with guy cards all the time, but this one is great because you can change the look just by changing up the shirt and jacket colors.  You can step it up a bit by adding a pocket which I decided to leave off.  I did crumple the jacket and shirt a bit to give it that just rolled out of bed bachelor look that every guy seems to love!

Birthday Invitations

I posted the party favors on Saturday so I figured I better post the invites also.  We had a girls night away and spent the night making the invites.  Had a ton of fun!!!  Couple bottles of wine and 4 hours of crafting makes an amazing night full of fun and laughs!!!

Here's part of our assembly line...

 Here they are almost finished!  Just a few more finishing touches...

The final invite finished.  They all were a bit different whether it was the dsp used on each one or the way the bling was added.  They all came out beautiful though.....

Birthday Favors!!!

One of my best friends just celebrated a MAJOR birthday milestone.  Her colors were black, turquoise, and white.  I helped out and made "50" party favors in her colors, dsp, and bling that matched her invitations that we made.

Here is the pile almost done....we filled them with Lindor Balls.

Here is a close up of them all done.

Here they are on the treat table!  Her birthday was awesome!  Loved how everything turned out!!!

You ROCK ~ sunburst

Made this card for my husbands birthday this year.  He loves ROCK-n-ROLL so I only thought this was fitting.  I really like the sunburst look in the back ground.  It reminds me of the light shows they do at the concerts.  And what saying would complete this card but SU's Bombs Away Birthday saying...

congratulations!

The music you grew up on is now considered

CLASSIC ROCK

Oscar the Grouch

My boss gave me a bunch of her stamps that she no longer wanted and can I say that I was in heaven!!!  There was a small basket full of Sesame Street stamps and this was one!!!  Love Oscar the Grouch and still do!!!  I kept this card quick and simple.  Just stamped and colored in with SU's watercolor pencils.  I do need to remember to  use staz on rather than our regular black in when I want to color to prevent smearing.

Quintin's Senior Prom 2014

Although this is a year late in posting, how can I not post this!  Yes you are seeing this right!!!  He is dressed up in the orange tux from "Dumb and Dumber".  Ever since he saw this movie he said he wanted to wear this tux for his senior prom and guess what?  He did!  Everyone loved it!  Some knew right away what tux it was from, but most thought it was a mad hatter type of tux.  He didn't care, he had a blast in it!  He actually wanted to buy instead of rent it!!!  Yes, he would wear it believe it or not.  So it would not of been money wasted.

Store Boutique

Can I just say I LOVE this thinlit die!!!  Yes, it took me a while to break down and buy this die, but I love it and see it being used often.  This is a super, easy, cute card that can be thrown together quickly for almost any occasion.  Granted, I did use some expired DSP (remember I am trying to use it up...), but this makes a super cute dress with a cardigan.  This card can be stepped up very easily with some pearls or gems for a necklace or even cut out a flower from the DSP and use on the cardigan....

Fancy Dance

This was one of the first dress card CASES I ever did using the Scallop Circle Die.  It was years ago and I haven't pulled it out in a while, but with my "For the Girls" Therapy Card Nite dress cards it went over well.  I did see where someone cut the slit and used the window word punch behind to make it look like the slip showing through, that I did CASE.  Thought it was cute.  I did this card with more sophisticated colors of black and gray with the silver belt and pearls for the accents.

Happy Day

OH HAPPY DAY!!!  Today I am running/walking in a 5K to celebrate my 5 years of healing with my back.  I had degenerative disk disease and had had 2 back surgeries that pretty much left me unable to do much.  Literally!!!  I couldn't lift my arm/hands above my head, couldn't hardly walk for long periods of time let alone at a reasonable pace, sit or stand for long periods.  I was in chronic pain all the time and was on A LOT of pain meds and muscle relaxers just to make it through a day.  Was told that was just how it was going to be for the rest of my life and that I would have more surgeries as needed as my back was pretty messed up after getting a better look at it during my second surgery.  We had a revival meeting at our church 5 years ago that I almost didn't make it to.  I ended up taking extra meds so I could atleast go for one night.  It was a good service that I remember, but don't recall the details (if that makes any sense).  Then at the end of service, Mickey Robinson, the guy from the revival meeting, called me out for prayer.  All I remember is that he said I wasn't there by accident and then I was out.  When I came to, I just knew God had or was going to do something special ( I thought for our church which in a way it was), I just wasn't sure what.  The next day was Sunday  and I woke with a feeling of expectation!!!  I went downstairs, as I am usually up before everyone else, and turned on my worship music.  While it was playing I started dancing around a little bit and I got excited and jumped.  Understand that is like shockwaves going thru my body and will pretty much put me out for a while, but it didn't hurt!  So I jumped a little bit again and it still didn't hurt at all!!!  So I jumped again, but this time hard, high and on purpose and it DID NOT HURT!!!  I threw my hands in the air with no pain and with ease...I started running around and absolutely NO PAIN whatsoever in my body!!!  Understand I had been living with this for over 7 years!!!!  I could hardly contain my excitement....went to church and everyone there who had seen me go through the surgeries and watched me in pain at church every week got to witness a great miracle.  Yes, today I am still healed and working at a job and working out.  I started running last fall and decided to celebrate I am going to participate in a 5K.  This is for our homeless shelter and so it is for a great cause.  Even if I do end up walking a bit.  I am almost up to running 2 miles and the run is in 2 weeks.  I am so excited as I know what this is meaning for me even if no one else does.

So to help celebrate here is a HAPPY DAY card....

Business Attire...

Found this on pintrest also and LOVED it!  I made one up and then made a template for my girls to make one for Therapy Card Nite!!!  This showcases our DSP great along with double sided ribbon (not SU).  This way the girls could pick the one they liked best.  Our theme for the month was For the Girls and each card showcased dresses!  This month was alot of fun...

Sympathy and Easter

So here is a card I've done before, but I really like this.  I've changed the color and made one as an Easter Card and one for a Sympathy Card.  Loved the punch aspect in making these cards.  Simple, quick, and easy...with a great WOW factor!!!

Happy Late Easter!!!!

Happy late Easter!!!  I would apologize for the late post but I had a busy last couple of weeks and for good reason.  Our church put on an Easter egg hunt for disabled children this year!   It was a last minute thing, but God's hand was in it and many children were blessed!  We had one for those in wheelchairs with magnetic eggs, one for autistic kids, one for visually impaired with beeping eggs, and a general for the all others and siblings.  It was a great time by all who helped and participated.  For most it was their first egg hunt ever! 

With all that going on, I missed putting up the Easter cards made last month along with the extra gift from the Easter Stamp Camp that I held.  So better late than never, but here goes...

This was the extra gift I had the girls make during the Stamp Camp.  I can't remember who's this is as I found it on pintrest.  I really need to start writing  down names.  I just never know what I will end up doing for sure.  See lots that I like, but takes me a bit to decide what I end up making...

Here is one of the cards that we did do.  I can say I did copy the basket from someone.  Since I missed last months card nite due to a flooded basement I carried over the shaving cream technique.  I thought it went well as our Easter eggs!  The girls really liked it.

you make me HAPPY...

So sad to see this years Sale-a-Bration come to an end because I loved alot of what was in it!!!  Such as the See Ya Later stamp set that I used here on the card along with the Sweet Sorbet DSP and Small Banner Punch!!!  (used as the suns rays)  I added a bit of Rhinestone bling on the sun and a strip of ribbon to top it off....

Peachy Keen...

So I cased this cute card layout from my good friend, Jamie Hurley.  I loved the bow that is made from the envelope punch board!!!  So I tried it out, and guess what?  It is easy peasy...   As I have recently found out there are many things you can make besides envelopes from this awesome little board!!!  

I used the Peachy Keen stamp from Peach Keen set from the Occasions Mini that is out along with Sweet Sorbet DSP from Sale-a-Bration.  Once the bow was complete I added a bit of bling with our Rhinestone Jewels.