Cherished Keepsakes

Thank You

2009-07-30T16:03:00.003-05:00

I am in total awe at all the beautiful responses I received from all of you. Shannon has touched lives all over this country and in Canada too and you all have touched her life and for that I am very grateful. I am happy to know she was loved and respected for who she was and the beautiful work she did.
Some one told me that the Lord only loans us our children and we never know when he is going to ask for them back. Please give your children an extra special hug for me.
Thank you all so much.
I will hold these Cherished Keepsakes Close to My Heart Forever.
Mom *:*

June 18, 2009

2009-07-17T16:45:00.002-05:00

Hi,
I am Shannon's Mom, her greatest fan, her best customer. It is with great saddness that I have to tell you that Shannon passed away on June 18th, 2009.
About 2 weeks before she died she had a seizure, and ended up in the hospital for 4 days. She had never had a seizure before. She was taking meds for it and seeing the doctors and doing everything that she was suppose to do. I was with her the last evening, she had a Dr. apt and we went out for dinner and then came back to her place to wait for our "goodies" to come. We were waiting for our Close to My Heart order to come in. When it came she had bought me the stamp set Thank You and said thank you for all you have been doing for me. I gave her a big hug and kiss helped her straighten things up and had to get home because we both had to work in the morning. We got a call from her boss telling us that Shannon didn't make it into work the next morning. We went and checked on her and found her.
I would like to thank everyone who ever looked at her blog, especially those of you who wrote a comment about her work. She looked so forward to your comments, you can't immagine how you affect someones life with your kind words.
The world has lost a great stamper and scrapbooker. I truely miss her we were always together or on the phone tossing ideas around or working on a page or card, or lately her sisters pages for her wedding album.
I do not have answers, just lots of questions, I can only put my faith and trust in the Lord and know she is in his arms now.
I love you Shannon and I miss you very much.
Mom *:*

Emporium

2009-05-26T16:10:00.008-05:00

This is another layout my Mom and I worked on for my sister's wedding dress. Like the layout below, we do have pictures on it, but I had to cover the pictures up per the bride. No one can see the dress before the wedding, she said! =)

This uses the Emporium paper packet. Colors are Buttercup, Cocoa, Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy and Tulip.

On the left page is a row of chipboard hearts from our Dimensional Elements Framed Fun set that I colored in with Tulip ink. Attached to the row of hearts is a White Daisy Tag from the Mini Medley Collection. I then used our Love Letters Rub Ons to add the word "Joy" to the tag.

On the right page, there is a bracket { from our Dimensional Elements Fresh Shapes that is also colored in with Tulip ink. Then the circles on the right side of that page near the top are just cut out from the paper packet.

Floral Tapestry

2009-05-25T18:32:00.013-05:00

I made these pages for my sister for pictures of her wedding dress. She is getting married next year in fall and already has picked out her dress. She lives a couple hours away, so the last time we were down there visiting her, she made an appointment with the place where she is getting her dress from so we could see the dress. Wow, it is such a beautiful dress! And I do have the pictures on these pages, but, as the bride said, no one can see the dress before the wedding, so I had to cover the pictures up. So sorry if my "covers" are crooked or look strange. =) My Mom and I worked pretty hard and we came up with a whole album for her full of pictures we had taken that day when we were down visiting her. She just loved it! And we had a lot of fun putting it together! So I'll be sharing the pages we made here, just no pictures on the pages though =)

This page I made with the Floral Tapestry papers. Colors are Garden Green, Orchid Bouquet, Twilight and White Daisy.

On the left page, I used our Tender Tags stamp set and stamped the tag and I also used the flourish stamps in that set to random stamp the background piece of Twilight cardstock.

The big flower on the bottom was simply cut out of the patterned paper and adhered there.

On the top, on the strip of Twilight cardstock, I have Twilight ribbon and in the middle of that is one of our Clear Inspirations Ribbon Slides that says "Precious". It is hard to read in the pictures. Then, tied to that with our Colonial White Ribbon is the Tender Tags I stamped. I also tied some of our Waxy Flax on that along with two of our Clear Inspirations Friendship Dangles. One of the Dangles says "{Love}" and the other one has a heart.

On the right page, I have another Tender Tags tag stamped in Twilight with the word "Congratulations" stamped on it in Orchid Bouquet. That had the same Colonial White Ribbon running underneath it and is held on both ends by our Edge Anchors Heritage Collection.

The strip running down the page was also stamped with more flourishes from the Tender Tags set.

On the bottom there is a small tag from the Stickease collection held on with a Twilight brad. Then, on the right side on the bottom, is another one of the Stickease that I matted, then ran our Colonial White Ribbon around.

The phrase I stamped on the right side is from The Giving Hand set and reads "I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, there is no hurt, but only more love. -- Mother Teresa".

Mother's Day Card

2009-05-23T07:03:00.004-05:00

This is the card I made for Mom for Mother's Day this year.

The card base is actually a pocket and the part with the flowers on it pulls out.

The flowers are from our Just Blooms Big Pinks and I added our Craft Buttons to them and tied the Buttons with Colonial White Waxy Flax.

The card base is made out of Chocolate Textured Cardstock and I have a little strip of patterned paper from our Bella Paper Packet near the top.

The little tag I have on the bottom is stamped with a stamp set that is a consultant only set (so far anyway) called Dream Big. Then on top of the tag is a Crochet Flower from our White Daisy Mini Medley Accent collection. I also have a flower shaped brad in the center of the Crochet Flower also from the same Mini Medley Collection, but it is hard to see in the picture.

The ribbon tied about the card base is from the Creme Brulee Ribbon Round.

Then the phrase I stamped on the part with the flowers is from our My One & Only stamp set and it is stamped in Blush.

Thank you!

2009-05-23T06:58:00.002-05:00

First, I wanted to say thank you soooo much to everyone who leaves comments. I can't tell you how much I just love seeing that, it just makes my day. There is nothing like coming home from work from a long day and seeing that wonderful comment. =) Thank you!

Plus I wanted to apologize for being absent for so long. Got busy working on an album for my sister for her birthday with her wedding dress pictures. Will be posting those pages soon. Plus the stupid computer's battery died and it was thinking it was 2003 for a good while and I could not post while it was 2003. lol But got the battery replaced and it is going well. So I hope to be posting a lot now that it is back to 2009!!

With Love Valentine's Card

2009-04-12T16:16:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to share another one of Mom's wonderful cards again today!

For this card, my Mom used the Coluzzle Square for the square in the Chocolate Cardstock to create a window. The Hollyhock cardstock is actually the inside of the card. Then she did the Dry Embossing to create the four lines that are connected with the Hollyhock Brads. Then finally she lightly sanded the Chocolate cardstock to show off the white core of our cardstock.

The ribbon is White Daisy Organdy Ribbon and she stamped a couple of phrases on it. It may be hard to read , but it says "with love" and "be mine" and "valentine" from the All My Love set and another set, but I am not sure which. Then the Organdy ribbon is tied with Hollyhock Ric Rac and our Natural Hemp.

Then on the heart, there is a flourish from our More To Adore Paper Packet along with a V for Valentine's Day. The V is from our Homestead Alphabet and is stamped in Chocolate ink and layered with Hollyhock Cardstock.

Then the heart is tied to the card with a Chocolate Eyelet on the top of the card and with a Hollyhock Eyelet on the heart.

And Mom said that the idea for this card came from our Originals book as well.

Great card Mom =)

Laughter Is An Instant Vacation

2009-04-05T16:01:00.012-05:00

"Laughter is an instant vacation", I just love that! =)

This layout uses papers from a couple different paper packets again. We have both papers from the Perfect Day Level 2 Packet and from the That's Amore Packet. Colors are Tulip, Desert Sand, Sweet Leaf and White Daisy.

Both of these layouts are from our Reflections book. The left side is the Quartet -- Offset layout and the right side is the Bottom Border -- Title layout.

The Desert Sand cardstock on both pages was dry embossed and sanded to show off the white core of our cardstock.

There are also accents from our Spring Blossom Mini Medley Accents Collection and from the Winter Cozy Collection. All of the brads have our Sparkles on top of them to add a nice little extra touch.

The large flowers are from our Just Blooms Big Pinks collection. And the ribbon is White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon.

The small circle here is from our Connections set and was stamped in Creme Brulee with the accent in the middle stamped in Sweet Leaf. Then it was sponged on the edge with Tulip ink. Added was a Paper Clip from our Spring Blossom Mini Medley Collection and a square brad from our Winter Cozy Collection. Again, a Sparkle on top of the brad to finish it off.

The chipboard letters are from our Dimensional Elements Simple Alphabet (lowercase) and they are colored in Tulip ink.

These two accents below are from our Mini Medley Spring Blossom Collection and they are the Photo Hangers with the rectangular loop removed. Then I added square brads from our Winter Cozy Mini Medley Collection then topped them with Sparkles.

The only other stamping done on this layout was the "is an instant vacation" stamped here. The letters are from our Sans Small Lowercase alphabet set.

Share Layout

2009-03-14T10:28:00.019-05:00

This layout uses a combination of Level 2 Paper Packs. There is paper from both the Perfect Day Paper Pack and from the That's Amore Paper Pack. Colors are Juniper, Sorbet, Chocolate, Creme Brulee and White Daisy. All the edges of the paper were also edged with Chocolate ink too.

I also used a lot of our new Love Story Rub-Ons on this layout as well. As an example, all the branches coming down from the top of the left side are from the Rub-Ons.

All the brads are Chocolate Brads and the ribbon across the pages is White Daisy Ricrac. Then the ribbon tied in knots on the hearts is our White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon.

The word "Share" is from our Dimensional Elements Simple Alphabet in Lowercase. Those were all colored with Creme Brulee ink and sponged a bit with Chocolate ink as well.

The Photo Corners on the left page are from our Spring Blossom Collection of Mini Medely Accents and they are Juniper in color. The Paper Clip on the hearts on the bottom of that page is also from the same Mini Medely Accents Collection and is in Creme Brulee.

The phrase that I have on the bottom of the left page was printed from the computer and I used our Evening News font to create it.

The hearts are from a few different stamp sets. The large heart on both the left and right pages is from the Love of My Life set. That heart is just a solid heart, so I used the large flower background stamp in the Intrinsic Backgrounds set and kissed the two stamps together before stamping it on the page. That allows me to have the heart stamp with the flower pattern on it!

The smaller hearts on the branches on the left side and on the Ricrac on the right side are also from the Love of My Life set. The larger heart with the "Love" Rub-On on it on the right side, is also from that set. Then on the left page, the smaller heart with the phrase on the bottom is from the Free Spirit set.

Oh and this is the Add An Element layout from Cherish.

White Christmas

2009-02-08T17:41:00.007-06:00

This card uses that cute snowman from the All Decked Out set (I really had a lot of fun with that set!). It is a 6" x 6" card and the fold is actually on the top. The papers are from the Aspen paper packet and the colors are Bamboo, Twilight and White Daisy.

The "Dreaming of a White Christmas" tag is from the Christmas Melodies set. It is stamped on Bamboo cardstock and I used a White Daisy Marker to color in the "white" saying on the tag. There is also some of our Sparkles and Glitter on there as well and near the bottom of the snowman too.

For the background papers, the outer most White Daisy cardstock is sponged with Twilight ink. Then the rest of the layers of cardstock are scissor distressed.

Then the tag is tied on with our White Daisy Organdy Ribbon and two different fibers from our White Daisy Collection of Sassy Strands. Oh and the snowman has his earmuffs finished off with Twilight Corduroy Brads from the Winter Cozy Mini Medley Accents Collection.

This card was originally made by Bren Yule, thanks Bren for the great idea! Her website can be found here.

As far as a white Christmas, here in Wisconsin, we had a very very white Christmas this year! =)

All Decked Out

2009-01-25T09:42:00.006-06:00

Just wanted to share another All Decked Out card. I had a lot of fun with this snowman!

The snowman and flourishes are from the All Decked Out set. The S, N and W letters are from our Boutique Alphabet and they were stamped in Desert Sand ink then cut out individually and adhered to the background. It's hard to see that from the picture.

Then the "brr" letters are from our Doodle Alphabet and they are on the Paper Circle Metal Rimmed Tag. That is held on to the White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon with a safety pin from our Autumn Garden Mini Medely Accents Collection.

The background paper is from our Notebook paper packet and that is layered on Bamboo cardstock that I sponged the edges of that with Desert Sand ink. The hat and scarf of the snowman is from our Aspen cardstock. I stamped those two pieces in the Aspen cardstock and cut them out and added them to the snowman. The scarf has our little Sparkles on the bottom for that extra bling!

The inspiration for this card came from Laurel Seabrook. Thanks Laurel! =) Her blog is listed on the side and can be found here.

Angel Sent

2009-01-24T15:59:00.004-06:00

This is the card my Mom made for the baptism, I thought it turned out so cute!

The Angel is from the Angel Sent stamp set and the frame is from the Annotations set. The paper is from our Sweet Pea paper packet. The angel was stamped in Black then colored in with our Coloring Pencils. The Annotations frame was stamped in Twilight ink then cut out for the angel. The angel and frame were then decorated with some glitter and Sparkles.

The phrase on the bottom was printed off the computer and has one of our buttons in Colonial White from our Holiday Craft Buttons set. And then some White Daisy Organdy Ribbon tied on the side to finish it off.

Baptism Card

2009-01-18T16:55:00.004-06:00

This is the card I made for my Godson for his baptism today.

The stamp sets used are Key to My Heart and God Bless You. The paper is from the Apsen paper packet and the colors are Twilight, Outdoor Denim and Colonial White.

For the key, I first stamped it in Twilight ink and rolled it around a bit in the Outdoor Denim ink to give it the different colors look it has.

Then on the inside, I wrote about how God will always be the key for your whole life. =)

Purr.Fect

2009-01-03T20:06:00.008-06:00

Just sharing a fun and Purr.Fect layout I worked on tonite! Purr.Fect is the name of the stamp set used! The papers are from the Silhouette Creative Basics collection and the colors are Black, Colonial White, Autumn Terracotta and Bamboo.

The "Cat Tales" title was stamped with the Friendship Alphabet set and they were each cut out and placed on the layout. In retrospect, I think it would have been much easier to just stamp the title phrase on the cardstock instead of doing all that cutting!! =)

Oh and the little "fishies" on the right page were made from Autumn Terracotta Photo Anchors and ribbon. They seem to work just purr.fect together to make those "fishies"!

The inspiration for this layout came, for the most part, from someone else, but unfortunately, I do not have that person's name. If this was your great layout, please let me know so I can give you proper credit. Thanks!

Aspen & All Decked Out

2009-01-01T17:57:00.013-06:00

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year! Welcome to 2009!

First, I have to say the inspiration for this layout came from Nancy Brown and Diane Fischer. Great layout, I just love it!!

This layout uses the Aspen Paper Packet with the Feathery Flakes stamp set, the All Decked Out stamp set and the Friendship Alphabet stamps. Colors are Twilight, Bamboo and Colonial White.

All the snowflakes are from the Feathery Flakes set and were heat embossed in our White Daisy Embossing Powder. The ribbon is from the Creme Brulee Designer Ribbon Rounds Collection. And the scallop edges were simply cut with a Fiskers scissor.

Oh and Stickles were used on the snowman's scarf and along the bottom of the snowman on the right page. There is also our Sparkles on there too and on some of the snowflakes. Always need a little bling!

The word "snow" has Liquid Applique across the tops of the letters to (hopefully!) look like snow. The Liquid Applique was heated with a craft heater and it puffs up like that. Works great for winter pages!

There are our Twilight Corduroy Brads from our Winter Cozy Mini Medely Accents on the snowman's earmuffs to keep him warm!

I also wanted to mention there was some paper piecing on this layout with the snowman's hat and scarf. On his hat on the left page, it was cut from our Aspen papers, but the band that goes across the hat, above the rim, was stamped on one of our different Aspen papers. That piece alone was just cut out and adhered on top of his hat. The same was done with the snowman's scarf on the right page. It was first stamped in the Twilight Aspen paper. Then the scarf was stamped again on Bamboo and all of those pieces were cut out separately and adhered to his scarf. That creates a very unique look!

Frosty Friends & Aspen

2008-12-14T18:19:00.007-06:00

First, I want to say that this is pretty much cased from Nicole Bailey. Thanks Nicole, this is a great card!!

This is a 6" x 6" card that uses the Aspen paper packet and the colors are Bamboo, Creme Brulee, Twilight and White Daisy.

The stamp set used is Frosty Friends. I stamped that in Black Staz-On ink, then colored it in with our ink pads using our Waterbrush. The "Wishing you a warm nose and toasty toes" phrase is also stamped in that Black Staz-On ink and, on that and on the snowmen, I used a sponge to edge Twilight ink around the edges.

The ribbon tied around the card is from our Creme Brulee Designer Ribbon Rounds Collection and the spiral clip and brads are from our Winter Cozy Mini-Medley Accents Collections.

Holiday Mail For Heroes

2008-12-07T18:12:00.005-06:00

I also wanted to mention this great program that the Red Cross and Pitney Bowes are doing this Christmas by delivering holiday mail to our men and women in the military. If you have extra Christmas cards, please consider sending them on for the Holiday Mail for Heroes.

http://www.redcross.org/email/saf/

From their website:

Holiday Mail for Heroes

Holiday Mail for Heroes is a partnership between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes to deliver one million holiday cards to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world.

Merry & Bright Cards

2008-12-07T16:29:00.009-06:00

I just wanted to share the cards from the Merry & Bright Card Kit. I think these cards are so adorable!

Colors are Cranberry, New England Ivy, Olive, Sorbet and Colonial White. The kit comes with everything you need to create these cards and it doesn't take long at all to put the cards together. The results though look like you spent a lot of time working on them!

Friendship Flowers & Sweet Pea

2008-12-06T13:46:00.005-06:00

Just wanted to share the card my Mom made for my cousin's new baby.

The flowers are from the Friendship Flowers set and are stamped in Sunkiss Yellow and the leaves are stamped in Key Lime. The papers are from our Sweet Pea paper packet and those colors are Baby Pink, Breeze, Key Lime and Lilac Mist. Mom then finished off the flowers with buttons from our Spring Craft Buttons collection.

It doesn't really look like it in the picture, but the phrase is actually on vellum. Mom printed it off the computer on to vellum, let it dry and attached it to her card.

She did a little decorating as well in the inside of the card and the "Congratulations" phrase is from the Gracious Greetings set.

Nursery Bash

2008-11-30T16:45:00.005-06:00

I made this card for my cousin for her new baby boy! Welcome Breck!

The stamp set used is Nursery Bash. The little ducks stamp only has the three ducks on it, but I wanted it to show the four ducks, one for Mom, one for Dad, and two for their two little boys. So what I did is stamp the whole stamp down, then I masked what I had just stamped and stamped just another duck there in the front. They are stamped in Chocolate ink and I colored them in with our Coloring Pencils.

The papers used are from the Paper Garden paper packet and the colors are Blush, Petal, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup and Chocolate. The "Celebrate" is from the Say It In Style stamp set.

On the top, I tied our Colonial White Organdy Ribbon and added a Sweet Leaf Ribbon Slide from our Winter Cozy Mini Medley Accents Collection. The three brads on the bottom are also from the same Mini Medley Collection.

Treasure Life

2008-11-23T15:48:00.006-06:00

This is a card I made for a friend who was leaving us at work. This card is made out of our Perfect Day papers and the colors are Tulip, Sorbet and Colonial White. The stamp set is called Treasure Life and the "Congratulations" phrase is from the For Every Occasion set.

I stamped the middle portion with various stamps in that set and I stamped them full strength and then in second and third generation with both the Tulip and Sorbet inks. Then I took a sponge and sponged Sorbet ink around the edges and on to the picture a bit. That helped create the softer look. I also sponged the edges of the Congratulations phrase too. Then I finished the card off with an Colonial White Organdy Ribbon on the right side.

Snow Friends Gift Card Holder

2008-11-22T17:41:00.004-06:00

This card uses the Coluzzle File Folder Template to create this cute file folder card that will also hold a gift card in the inside. This great idea came from Connie MacFarland. You can view her website here.

I used the Coluzzle File Folder Template to cut out the file folder in White Daisy cardstock. Then I did the same thing again in Creative Basics Evensong Collection paper. Those two pieces are adhered together with the exception of a portion on the right side of the inside that was cut wide enough to slip in a gift card.

The front then is stamped with our Snow Friends set and colored in with Cranberry and New England Ivy markers. The three buttons on top tied with our Colonial White Waxy Flax are from our Holiday Craft Buttons collection.

The --- line on the sides is simply done with one of our Black My Legacy Writer Pen Set. I just used a ruler to keep the line straight and made simple dash marks.

Thanks for the great card idea Connie!!

Stair Step Card

2008-11-16T09:52:00.009-06:00

This was the birthday card I made for Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! =)

This is a stair step card and they are actually pretty easy to make. You start with a piece of cardstock 10.5" x 5" and score it at: 1.25", 2.5", 4.25", 6", 8.25" and the rest is up to you. I included a couple different shots of the card so you can see how it is folded together.

I learned how to make it from Leslie Markland and copied a few of her ideas too. Thanks Leslie! I think Mom really liked it too!!

The stamp sets used are Shining Star, Life's Creation and For Every Occasion. The paper packet used was Perfect Day and the colors are Juniper, Sorbet, Tulip and Colonial White. On the piece in the front where "Happy Birthday" is stamped, I also stamped one of the small flowers in second generation from the Life's Creation set in Tulip on there. It's kind of hard to see. Then the stars in the back were cut out and then I layered them on Colonial White cardstock and cut them out again with the border.

My City Layout

2008-11-15T14:41:00.027-06:00

This layout uses our Perfect Day papers. Colors are Cocoa, Juniper, Sorbet, Tulip and Colonial White. The stamp set used was Life's Creation. For the "My City" letters, the Chocolate Alphabet was used. (That has to be the best named stamp set ever! =)

Quite a few small details on this layout that I wanted to share too. The first being our new Rub-Ons! Our Rub-Ons come in one package with three colors, White Daisy, Black and Chocolate. For this layout, we used the Chocolate Rub-Ons. So the border running across the top of both pages is from our Rub-Ons. So is the small Chocolate flower in each of the little stamped flowers by the "My City" phrase and "love" phrase. The "love" phrase is also a Rub-On as is the "Memories..." phrase. And so are the "brackets" on each side of the "My City" phrase.

Also, using our Black Stubble Tool in our Distressing Kit, Cocoa ink was added to all of the edges of the Colonial White pieces.

The large pieces of Juniper on the bottoms of each page were stamped second generation with the flowers in the Life's Creation set, but it is really hard to see that though.

The striped piece of B&T paper just below the "Memories..." phrase also has one of the stamps from the Life's Creation set stamped on it as well in second generation. That was a neat little touch!

Then the large flower on the right side of the "My City" phrase is also from the Life's Creation set and is several of those stamps layered together. It was then put up on foam tape for the dimension. I finished it off with a Tulip brad in the center from our Spring Blossom Mini Medely Collection and added some of our Sparkles along the flower's side for a little extra bling.

The three tokens beneath the "Life isn't about..." phrase are this catalog's Connections Club rewards. One was also place on the left of the "My City" sentiment.

Underneath the picture on the left page is Cocoa ribbon instead of cardstock! The ribbon was cut at angles and added under that Colonial White photo mat. Then two ribbon knots were attached to the side as well.

This was a fun layout, a lot of little extra touches!!

Perfect Day

2008-11-08T08:17:00.008-06:00

First, I have to say the idea for this card came from Anita Short. Thanks Anita =)

This card uses our Perfect Day papers and the colors are Cocoa, Juniper, Tulip, Sorbet and Colonial White. The stamp set that was used is called Life's Creation.

There is a piece of Cocoa cardstock in the middle of the card and that was sanded first. It also has two Colonial White brads in each end.

The phrase was stamped in Cocoa ink and the two little flowers on the top and bottom were also stamped in Cocoa. Then the insides of the flowers were stamped in Juniper and Sorbet and they were stamped off once first. I also have a little Sparkle in each of the flowers, but it may be hard to see in the picture.

Also the edges of the phrase and the Tulip paper that it was layered on have been scissor distressed to roughen up it up a bit and show off our white core cardstock.

Winter Memories

2008-10-26T13:58:00.005-05:00

This card uses our beautiful new Aspen papers and the Winter Memories stamp set. Colors are Twilight, Bamboo and Colonial White.

The snowman was stamped in Bamboo, then his hat and scarf were additional stamps in that set, so I stamped them in Twilight and cut them out on placed them on the snowman. His shadow, on the left, is also another stamp in that set that I stamped in Bamboo. Then the bottom where he sits, I used some torn paper and sponged Twilight ink on it and then placed it near the bottom so that it (hopefully!) looks like he is sitting on snow.

Then the other hat and mittens on the side were stamped and cut out. Then I punched a hole in them near the top and threaded the Colonial White Organdy Ribbon through them before tying the ribbon. And finally the phrase "Warm Winter Wishes" is up on pop dots to give it a little extra dimension.

He's such a cute snowman, but at this point, I can definitely wait for Winter! I'm not sure it is going to wait for me though!!

Shining Star

2008-10-18T09:29:00.005-05:00

First, I have to say that this card was pretty much lifted from Nona Pearl Davenport. The link to her blog is on the sidebar. She has some incredible artwork!!

This card uses the Shining Star stamp set. Also the "Noel" phrase is from the Peace on Earth set. The star and Noel are stamped in Bamboo ink. The star was cut out and layered on the Colonial White and Bamboo pieces. I also edged the Colonial White piece sponging it with Bamboo ink just to give it a softer look.

The background paper is from our Notebook paper packet and the colors are Blush and Bamboo. The card was then finished off with our Hollyhock Twill Ribbon.

Aspen

2008-10-12T09:28:00.007-05:00

Well last week here in Wisconsin it was 29 degrees when I woke up, so I shared a summer card. Yesterday it was 75 degrees so now I will share one of my winter cards! =D

This Snow card uses our new Aspen papers and the colors are Creme Brulee, Twilight and White Daisy. The stamp sets used are Boutique Alphabet and Feathery Flakes. On the inside of the card, I stamped "let it snow" from our Christmas Scripts set in Twilight ink.

The card is then finished off with our White Daisy Ric Rac ribbon and Sparkles on the snowflake used as the O in Snow.

Laid Back Summer Days

2008-10-04T19:31:00.006-05:00

Well, here in Wisconsin, it was 29 degrees when I woke up this morning! brrr! Then I opened the window to find the ground pretty white with frost. Yikes! I am really not ready for winter yet!! So I decided to post a nice summer-y card today. =)

This card uses the Laid Back paper packet. Colors are Dutch Blue, Vineyard Berry and Sunflower. The stamp set that looks sooo nice and relaxing is from the very appropriately named Paradise set.

All of the Dutch Blue, Sunflower and Vineyard Berry cardstock here has been sanded to reveal our white core and to give the card a softer, more relaxed, look.

The silver photo clip is from our Photo Clip collection and the circle was created using the Coluzzle circle.

Hope everyone takes time to enjoy the end of summer!

Simple Blossoms

2008-09-21T16:18:00.012-05:00

This card uses the Simple Blossoms stamp set. Colors are Blush, Twilight, White Daisy, Sweet Leaf and Clover Meadow. The patterned paper is from the Simple Pleasures set. The White Daisy paper on the right side is our Textured Cardstock. I simply ran the Twilight ink pad over the top of the cardstock just to show off it's texture and give it a little distressing.

The heart in the top left corner is also from that set. The corner is being held down with a Pewter Concho.

And the card has a different fold to it and you can see it opened up on the bottom picture. Just a little something different!

Sympathy

2008-09-07T13:47:00.004-05:00

I wanted to share a sympathy card I made for a friend who recently and very unexpectedly passed away. I always find it very hard to make sympathy cards, but I often think that is because of the subject of the card. So I wanted to share this one and hopefully provide some help for anyone dealing with this unfortunate subject too.

This card was made with the Paper Garden papers and the colors are Blush, Buttercup, Petal, Sweet Leaf and Colonial White. The third piece of the Paper Garden papers is also stamped with our Sweet Flowers set. I stamped the flowers in Petal and the stems in Garden Green. The "With Sincere Sympathy" stamp is from the Comforting Thoughts set and that was also stamped in Petal. The bottoms of each of the sections of Paper Garden paper was ripped and the card was finished off with Blush Ribbon from the Colonial White Collection of Designer Ribbons.

Just Because

2008-09-01T09:08:00.027-05:00

September is National Stamping Month and on special this month is this amazing card kit that includes everything to create all of these cards! The stamp set used is called Just Because and the kit uses our beautiful new color, Tulip. It also uses Cocoa and Colonial White. Many of these cards were then finished off using our Cocoa Grosgrain Ribbon and our Sparkles for a nice little extra touch.

With Love

2008-08-31T19:57:00.009-05:00

This was the card my Mom recently made for Grandma's birthday. Mom said she lifted this card from a great card done by Carolyn Hulin.

The stamp set she used was the With Love set and the Happy Birthday phrase is from the Birthday Script set. Colors are Twilight, Chocolate and White Daisy.

The stamp from the With Love set was stamped in the background with Twilight ink on Twilight paper. Then it was also stamped over the top of that and embossed with White Daisy Embossing Powder. That portion was finished with a perfectly placed paper flower and brad from our Mini-Medely Accents in Shades of Chocolate Collection.

The Happy Birthday phrase was also heat embossed in White Daisy Embossing Powder. And this card actually opens from the bottom up instead of from side to side. It is a fun little variation.

The card was then completed with Chocolate Organdy ribbon tied across the top.

Carolyn has a ton of other fantastic artwork on her website at http://carolynh.myctmh.com.

Simple Beauty

2008-08-24T14:43:00.042-05:00

First, I have to say this layout is lifted from Jena Vee DeVries. She did the original layout and it was sooo wonderful I had to try it too! The link to her blog is on the side as well if you want to check it out.

The layout uses the Simple Beauty stamp set. All the paper is our textured cardstock, the only exception is the stamping done on the Colonial White paper that is stamped with the Sweet Leaf ink and then is cut around. All the flowers have been cut again out from other colors and the backgrounds are all textured cardstock as well. Also, our textured cardstock comes with one color on one side and a lighter color on the other side, so it works out great and gives a lot of different options.

The colors that were used are Colonial White, Petal, Sweet Leaf, Heavenly Blue and Amethyst. The stamping of the flowers was done in Sweet Leaf. Then various papers were cut and placed on top of the inked flowers using the textured cardstock of Petal, Heavenly Blue, Amethyst and Smokey Plum. And all the pieces were sanded with our Sanding Kit sandpapers.

I also colored in all the leaves with our Olive Watercolor Pencil and blended it around with our Waterbrush. For some of the smaller pieces of the flowers, those are also colored in with Watercolor pencils and blended with the Waterbrush as well.

Along the bottom are a couple strips of paper from our Promise of Spring paper packet. Those were both edged with our Edge Distressor. The phrase in the circle is also from that stamp set as well and the circles were cut from our circle Coluzzles.

The "Simple Beauty" is actually printed off of the computer using our Font CD. This font is called CTMH Aristocrat.

Finally to help finish it off, there are Garden Green brads and Colonial White brads in several of the flowers. Also there are a few dots of Liquid Glass in other places to give it a different look as well. And while mentioning Liquid Glass, it also makes a great adhesive. I used the Liquid Glass several times with the small flower pieces that had to be cut out and adhered. Just a dot of the Liquid Glass on the original paper and put the new cut piece on top of it and after a little drying, it stays there perfectly!

Here are a few closeups:

Flutter

2008-08-17T18:03:00.008-05:00

This card uses the Flutter and Fluttering Frames sets and uses Tissue Inking as the technique to color the butterflies and the frame. The "thank you" phrase is from the Life Is So Good set. That stamp was cut in half in order to make it work with the frame.

First, the colors are Topiary, Hollyhock, Buttercup and White Daisy. The background of the card is in Topiary cardstock and first was sanded, then I stamped the background image from the Fluttering Frames set in second generation on there to give it a lighter effect.

The Tissue Inking is very simple and has an amazing look! To do it, first take your stamp and ink it up in the lightest color just as you would ink up any stamp. In this case, the stamp was inked with Buttercup ink. Then take a tissue (or any Kleenex) and dab that in your next lightest color until it is soaked well, then tap that on to your stamp. The butterflies used Hollyhock as the second lightest color. Then take your darkest color and do the same thing with your tissue, dabbing it in the ink pad first, then use that inked up tissue to tap on to your stamp. On these butterflies, Topiary ink was the final color. Huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp it down. The fun thing is that every time you do it, you will get something different! It may take a little practice at first, but the effect it creates is well worth it!

The card was then finished off with White Daisy Brads and White Daisy Organdy Ribbon.

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More To Adore Birthday Card

2008-08-10T16:25:00.011-05:00

I recently had a birthday and wanted to share the great card my sweet Mom made for me. I just love it!!

She used the More to Adore Paper Packet and the colors are Blush, Chocolate, Hollyhock and Vanilla Cream.

The stamp set she used is called Friendship Blessings and each of the flowers was embossed in White Daisy Embossing Powder. The birthday sentiment is from the Card Sentiments set and she embossed that on the outside and inside in Gold Embossing Powder. Then for embellishments on the flowers she used our Sparkles, Gold Brads, a Bigger White Daisy Brad and a clear Craft Button.

Oh and the Happy Birthday stamped on the inside is from the For Every Occassion set.

Thanks again for such a beautiful card Mom! =)

Rising Up

2008-07-20T18:01:00.007-05:00

This page is a 6" x 6" page for a quote swap I had participated in. This is a favorite quote of mine and is found in the Follow Your Dreams stamp set. The flowers are from the Life Is So Good set and the bees and the heart are from the A Little Bee set. Finally, the letters along the side are from the Precious Alphabet set.

The colors are Heavenly Blue, Blush, Sunny Yellow, Garden Green and Colonial White. The two pieces with the quote stamped on them are also raised up on foam tape for a little extra dimension. And there is also some edging done with the Heavenly Blue ink on the larger Colonial White piece.
x

Serendipity Pages

2008-07-13T09:23:00.022-05:00

These pages use the Serendipity papers. Colors are Dutch Blue, Outdoor Denim, Colonial White, White Daisy and Chocolate. All the cardstock used on the pages is our textured cardstock. Love how that looks -- it gives the pages just a different look to them! Plus the textured cardstock has the main color on one side and a lighter version of the color on the other side. So that is where the different shades come in as well.

Okay first, let me say that the left page was completely lifted from another very talented consultant. And we based the right page on the left page as well. But I do not have the consultant's name, unfortunately. If this was your page, please let me know so I can give you proper credit!!

Then to make the layout, we started with only the left page. So what we did was look in our Cherish and Imagine books for a layout that was similar. And we found the Grand Finale layout in Imagine. But what we did with the layout is take the Imagine book and turned it completely upside down! Then we followed the layout that way.

All the flowers are from the Serendipity stamp set. They were stamped on the textured cardstock and cutout. We then took that color of ink and inked the edges of the flowers to give it just an extra touch. The bottom of the flowers were attached directly to the page, but the layers on top were added with foam tape to give it an extra dimension. Then the flowers were finished off with a small Pewter Spiral with one of our Bigger Brads in the middle.

The pages were then finished off with the Playful Flourishes stamp set. We stamped that with the White Daisy ink. Since our White Daisy ink is a pigment ink pad, it takes a while longer to dry (or you can dry it faster with the heat tool), but the color is so much richer!

These pages just turned out fantastic! It was a lot of cutting, but I just love how they look!!

And just a closeup shot of one of the flowers.

From Me to You

2008-06-30T17:42:00.012-05:00

These cards are from the From Me to You card kit special they offered last September for National Stamping Month. I just love how these cards all turned out! Colors are Garden Green, Hollyhock, Sunflower and Colonial White.

There is a lot of sanding on various pieces of the cards -- that allows the white core of our cardstock to show though and just gives the card a whole new look and texture. One of the other things that was done was to use a paper piercer and make a small hole in the center of many of the randomally stamped flowers. This was such a simple idea, but it really created an extra feature on the stamped images!

Also many of the main images are up on foam tape to add dimension, but it may be hard to see in the pictures.

The card kit was called From Me to You and that is the name of the stamp set used as well. These cards are all the standard size of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". And after these great cards, I can't wait to see what National Stamping Month will bring this year! =)

Magic Moments

2008-06-22T16:02:00.044-05:00

This kit was the special during National Scrapbooking Month. My Mom made up these pages and I just wanted to share them with you, I love how they all look!!

The kit came with everything Mom used to create these pages: the papers themselves, the ribbons, the brads, the Stickease, etc. The only "extra" we added was Sparkles on the trees for December.

Brrrr:

Be Mine:

Memories:

'

Sunshine:

Mom:

Dad:

Summertime:

Celebrate:

Life's Milestones:

Fall:

Season's Change:

Holiday Memories:

Air Mail Card

2008-06-15T18:44:00.007-05:00

This card uses a couple of retired sets, but I just love how it turned out, so I thought I would share it anyway.

The main set I used was Air Mail. It also uses Simple Stitches right along the middle too.

The left side of the card was done with Cocoa cardstock. There are a couple of steps involved to have it turn out like it did. The first thing I did with the cardstock was crinkle it up into a tight little ball. I then flattened it back out a bit and sanded over the top of it to expose the white core of the cardstock where it was crinkled. Then I took a sponge and inked back over the top of it with Cocoa ink. It created a very interesting look.

The right side of the card was stamped with a stamp in the Air Mail set on Bamboo cardstock, then I also used the sponge with Cocoa ink on that too a bit just to give it an aged look.

The main image uses the Slide Frames set and I stamped that on Colonial White cardstock using Cocoa ink and cut it out and cut the center of it out as well. Then there is our Hemp wrapped around that with a Silver Photo Clip connected to it.

The main postmark image is also up a little on foam tape just to give it some extra dimension. That and the image behind it of the script writing is also sponged just a bit with the Cocoa ink as well. And the card was then finished off with the three Silver Brads on the bottom.

It was actually quite a bit of work and my fingers were an interesting color when I finished, but I am pretty happy with how the card turned out!

Just Add Love (And A Little Chocolate!)

2008-06-01T19:25:00.004-05:00

This is a 6x6 scrapbook page made for a recipe swap I was in.

The papers are from the More To Adore paper packet and the colors are Blush, Chocolate and Colonial White. The stamps are from the All My Love set and the "love" letters are from the Whimsy Caps set. The "Just Add" phrase was printed on the computer.

There is a Chocolate Organdy Ribbon tied in the top of the "Just Add" tag and the ribbon continues all the way down behind the "love" letters.

There is also some edge distressing done in the Chocolate ink as well.

Chocolate and scrapbooking, what could be better!! =D

Summer Sweetness

2008-05-27T09:00:00.011-05:00

Ahh, summer sweetness! We are so ready for summer here in Wisconsin!

These pages use the Boom-Di-Ada Creative Basics Collection Papers. Colors are Hollyhock, Buttercup, Colonial White, White Daisy, Black, Olive and Sweet Leaf.

There are also a lot of stamps here too. The watermelons are from the Summer Sweetness set. And some of the watermelons that are on the sides of the phrases are put up on foam tape for a litte extra dimension.

The two large S stamps are from the Boutique Alphabet set. The "of" stamp is from the Precious Alphabet. It was stamped in Black on Buttercup cardstock and cut into a 1" circle and put into a Metal Rimmed Tag. The rest of the letters spelling "Summer Sweetness" are from the Whimsey Caps set.

The Hollyhock Ric Rac is from our new Ric Rac Collection Designer Ribbon Rounds. Both of those two ribbons are held on with White Daisy Brads. And the buttons are actually two clear buttons with Hollyhock cardstock on the back of them. The cardstock is held in place with the Colonial White Waxy Flax that was tied between the button and cardstock.

Sweet Floral Card Kit

2008-05-26T11:32:00.017-05:00

I just wanted to share the cards that were made out of the My Originals Sweet Floral Card Kit. I think they turned out beautifully! The card kit comes with 12 cards of the 4 designs below and also comes with the vellum envelopes you see. And the best part is that this whole kit is only $14.95 for 12 cards, so that makes it a better deal than you will find at Hallmark! =D

And this just shows the back of the card:

Another card in the set:

Card three:

And card four:

Baroque Alphabet with Playful Flourishes

2008-05-25T13:56:00.007-05:00

This card was made using the S in the Baroque Alphabet. That is such a rich beautiful alphabet set! The S was heat embossed and for that, I stamped the S on Colonial White cardstock using the Versamark ink pad. Then I covered it with our Gold Embossing Powder and heat set. Then it was layered onto our Black cardstock and then placed on the card with some foam tape to give it dimension.

The background stamping is done in Black Ink on Colonial White cardstock using the Playful Flourishes set. I stamped it on one piece of cardstock, then cut it into the four smaller pieces. Stamping it like that allows the image to just continue to flow. The four pieces were then layered on to Black cardstock.

The red is actually the Cranberry color and is patterned paper from the Everlasting Paper Packet. Then that was layered again in Black onto the Colonial White cardstock base of the card.

The ribbon on the bottom is from the Black Collection Designer Ribbon Rounds.

I was pretty happy with how this turned out! And I have not heat embossed in quite a while, I forgot how much I love it and how wonderful it looks!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-18T19:12:00.006-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there! This is the card I made for my Mom. =)

I used the Dahlia Folding again for the O in Mom. I am really having fun with that Dahlia Folding! (For more info about Dahlia Folding, please see the post a couple of posts down, there is a link there for a how-to.) This time I used 1" circles to make the fold. The other two cards below both used 2" circles to make those folds.

The paper is our Boom-Di-Ada Creative Basics collection and the colors are Hollyhock, Olive and White Daisy. The two Ms are from the Solo M stamp set. I also wrapped Colonial White Waxy Flax around the left M.

Then as a couple of accents I used our White Daisy My Accents Collection for the brads and spiral clip. The Ric Rac is also Hollyhock. Oh and again, there is a Sparkle in the center of the Dahlia Fold!

More Dahlia Folding

2008-05-01T16:53:00.003-05:00

Here is another card done using the Dahlia fold. The Dahlia fold is done just a little differently than the one below. (For more details and a how-to, please see the post two posts down.) For this one, I just switched the "front" and "back" of the paper for every fold. Gives it a totally different look!

The papers are from the Boom-Di-Ada Creative Basics collection and the colors are Hollyhock, Olive and Garden Green. I have our new Ric Rac ribbon across the card on the bottom and tied to that with Colonial White Waxy Flax is one of our Friendship Dangles. (The Dangle says "Laugh", it can be kind of hard to read.) Again, I finished the Dahlia fold off with a sparkle!

Life Delights

2008-04-27T08:17:00.007-05:00

Just wanted to share more great pages my Mom made. And I have to confess, those are pictures of me and my sister from too many years ago!!

She used the Life Delights papers and this is the Monologue layout from Imagine. The paper and ink colors are Sweet Leaf, Lilac Mist, Chocolate and Colonial White. The buttons are from the Buttercup My Accents collection.

The large red flowers are from the Delight in Everything set. She stamped the full flower in Holiday Red on to a transparency. After it dried, she brushed the edges of the flowers with White Daisy ink and cut them out.

The flower she stamped and has in the Circle Metal Rimmed Tag is also from the Delight in Everything set. The phrase is also from that set and works quite well on these pages!!

The flourishes are from the Playful Flourishes set. She also covered the XO chipboard letters in papers from the Life Delights collection.

The last thing she did was add chocolate ink to the Colonial White papers with the Black Stubble Texture Tool from our Distressing Kit. It was a great idea, it just added an extra something!

Great pages Mom! These pictures just make me smile!! =)

Dahlia Fold

2008-04-22T18:30:00.005-05:00

This is my first attempt at a Dahlia fold. I used the Paper Garden paper packet and the colors are Petal, Blush and Colonial White. This is a 6" x 6" card and the circles I made the Dahlia fold from are 2" each.

For instructions on how to make a Dahlia fold, please visit this website:
http://www.cardsandcrafts.freeservers.com/dahlia.html

She has a great tutorial there. And the Dahlia fold is not hard to do!!

The buttons I have on the sides are from the Spring Collection of Craft Buttons, except for the white button, that is from the Holiday Collection. The buttons are tied with Colonial White Waxy Fax. And the Dahlia Fold was finished with a Sparkle right in the middle.

The "Just Because" phrase is from the Stamp of the Month for May called Say It In Style. That was stamped in Petal and the Bigger Brad there is Smokey Plum.

Paper Garden & Friendship Blessings

2008-04-20T18:38:00.020-05:00

This layout uses the Paper Garden paper packet along with the Friendship Blessing stamp set. Colors are Blush, Sweet Leaf, Petal and a little Colonial White.

The ribbon is from the Colonial White Collection Designer Ribbon Rounds along with some Colonial White Organdy Ribbon. The brads are also Colonial White. There are two Just Blooms Big Pinks blooms on the right page along with a Bigger Brad in one and a button from our Spring Craft Buttons in the other.

Winter Weary!

2008-04-13T14:01:00.023-05:00

We have definitely had too much snow this winter here in Wisconsin! So my Mom decided to scrapbook it and these are her pages. I thought they turned out great!

She used the Simple Pleasures paper packet and the Snow Friends stamp set. Colors are Twilight, Cocoa, Bamboo and Colonial White. The chipboard letters were also covered in Twilight cardstock.

All the snowflakes are decorated with Liquid Glass and Prisma Glitter. She also saved an article in the local newspaper regarding the snow and where it should go. She included that in the layout in a pocket she created with eyelets underneath the section with the statistics on all the snow we received this year.

It has been a difficult winter with all the snow and cold we have had this year. Even as I write this, it is April 13th and we had another big snowstorm yesterday and there is still snow on the ground from that. We are soooo ready for spring!!

And here are a few pictures of the close up details of the layouts. And all the snow!!

Simple Beauty

2008-03-30T13:46:00.004-05:00

This card was made using the SOTM Simple Beauty set. The "thank you" is from the For Every Occassion set. I think the idea for this came from the one of the BBs, but honestly right now, I cannot remember. So if this was your original design, thank you!

I stamped the Simple Beauty stamp in black and colored it in using markers. I don't use markers much so it was kinda fun and very different! The marker colors I used were Garden Green, Petal, Barn Red and Hollyhock. (I also don't have a lot of markers yet, lol!) The cardstock colors are Hollyhock, Petal and White Daisy and all the edges are edged in Chocolate ink. And I tore the complete edge of the card. So the "Thank You" phrase on the front is actually stamped on several layers. Then because we have clear stamps, I was able to re-position the "Thank You" almost perfectly over what was already there on the inside of the card, and stamp that phrase again.

I also added a few Sparkles for a little extra bling and tied White Organdy Ribbon around the card as well.

Solo F

2008-03-01T17:03:00.003-06:00

This card uses the Solo F in our Alphabet Solos collection. The paper is from the Groovy Blossoms Level 2 Paper Packet. The stamps are stamped in Hollyhock and the word "friends" on the bottom is stamped also in Hollyhock, just in second generation. The colors in the paper are Breeze, Sweet Leaf, Hollyhock, Cocoa and White Daisy. The large F is also up on pop dots for a little dimension.

Laid Back and Paradise

2008-02-28T07:55:00.004-06:00

Time for a summer card. Maybe it will make spring hurry up! =D

This card uses the Laid Back Level 2 Paper Packet and the Paradise stamp set. Colors are Dutch Blue, Sunflower, Vineyard Berry and White Daisy. The Dutch Blue with the guy on the hammock was sanded a little to give it a nice soft look. The sun on the Sunflower circle has glitter on it for a little extra sparkle. The Relaxed word was stamped in the Sunflower ink pad then the bottom was rolled in Vineyard Berry ink. And the hint of a nice cooling drink in the top corner is held there by a Pewter Concho from our Pewter My Accents Collection.

Craft TV Weekly

2008-02-27T17:21:00.005-06:00

Hello! I just wanted to share an amazing site with you today. It's called Craft TV Weekly and can be found at http://www.tvweekly.com/. They have a channel called The Scrapbook Lounge where you can watch online videos of various projects being made. The best thing about this website is that it is all free! There are even design guides you can download and save or print that show step by step directions on how to do what you just watched. I have been watching several of these lately and am just hooked!

There is also one I just watched where they made a mini album out of our My Originals From The Heart Card Kit. You can see it here:

http://sbl.tvweekly.com/player.php?8d2b1c692958eec5d437b1be8a90ea10x1774

Hope you enjoy these as much as I am! =)

Caprice & Homestead Alphabet

2008-02-24T10:36:00.003-06:00

This card uses the Caprice Level 2 Paper Packet. Colors are Chocolate, Bamboo, Crystal Blue, Honey and Colonial White. The "Smile" is stamped from the Homestead Alphabet set and then cut out.

There are several fun embellishments on this card. The first is our Natural Twill Ribbon from the White Daisy Collection Ribbon Rounds. On the ends of the twill ribbon is our Heritage Edge Anchors in Colonial White. There is also one of our Clear Inspirations Friendship Dangles hanging from Colonial White Waxy Flax tied to the Twill Ribbon as well. (Love those Friendship Dangles!!) And finally I have a small spiral clip from the Colonial White My Accents collection on the bottom left side.

Fun little card. =)

Serendipity

2008-02-23T09:44:00.004-06:00

This card is all done using our wonderful Textured Cardstock. The stamp set is Serendipity. The colors used are Dutch Blue, Bamboo, Outdoor Denim and Chocolate. The flourishes are from the Playful Flourishes set.

Each of the petals is cut out and edged in either Dutch Blue or Outdoor Denim. The outer petals are stamped in Outdoor Denim, but they are second generation, or stamped off once, in order to create a lighter shade of that color. All the inner petals are done in Dutch Blue. The petals also have foam tape on the back of the tops of them in order to give them some dimension. The center is done with a small pewter spiral clip and a Bamboo Bigger Brad.

The background pieces of cardstock have been edged with our new Edge Distressor.

Again, the inspiration for this card came from someone else's amazing work, but unfortunately I do not have a name. If this was your original creation, please let me know so I can give you proper credit! =)

Playful Petals

2008-02-23T09:35:00.002-06:00

This card uses the fun Playful Petals set. Colors are Sweet Leaf, Blush, Chocolate, Colonial White and Lilac Mist. The center is smaller stamps in that set cut out and stacked on top of each other and finished with a brad in the center.

Technique Pages

2008-02-18T18:42:00.007-06:00

These are two 6x6 technique pages. I have been in a few rounds of technique swaps for a while with an incredible group of ladies and these are a couple of the pages I made for the swap.

The first one is using the new Edge Distressor. The Edge Distressor is a fun little tool that helps roughen the edges of our cardstock to expose the white core.

I used the Enchanted Level 2 Paper Packet and the colors are Smokey Plum, Garden Green, Sunflower and Colonial White. There is just a little stamping on the bottom and that is from the Goodness of Life set.

This is the other technique page that I made that shows how to use our Solo Letters and make them out of patterned paper.

This page uses the Floral Tapestry papers. The stamp sets are used are the Solo S, Solo L and Playful Flourishes. Colors are Garden Green, Orchid Bouquet, Twilight and Colonial White.

Remember too that you can always click on all the pictures for a larger image to see details and if you wish to read the techniques. =)

Snow Friends & Simple Pleasures

2008-02-17T09:00:00.012-06:00

First, I have to say that these pages are totally cased from Kimberlee DeFriez. Kimberlee, these pages are incredible! I just loved them!! =)

The pages use the Snow Friends stamp set and the Simple Pleasures Level 2 Paper Packet. The words "Believe" and "Imagine" by two of the snowmen are from the Geometric Thoughts set. And the randomally stamped winter words are from the Christmas Scripts set.

Colors are Twilight, Bamboo, Desert Sand, Cocoa, Chocolate and Colonial White. All the cardstock pieces are edged in Chocolate ink. The snowmen are colored with the Waterbrush. The three snowmen in the corners also have their hats done as paper piecing. Also the bird is paper pieced on the snowman in the bottom right corner.

There are several of our new Sparkles on the pages for a little bling. The Twilight ribbon is from our Twilight Collection Designer Ribbon Rounds. And the little flower on the hat of the snowman in the bottom left corner is part of our new Mini-Medley Accents Shades of Chocolate Collection.

All My Love

2008-02-16T19:36:00.002-06:00

This wonderful Valentine's card came in the mail this week from my Mom! She is so sweet =)

She used the set called All My Love. The colors are Blush, White Daisy and Black. Great color combination! And I love all the buttons!!

Thank you!

Joy Forever

2008-02-16T19:19:00.003-06:00

This is a 6x6 card using the Joy Forever stamp set along with Silhouette papers. The background is random stamped with one of the little stamps in that set. It is also edged in Bamboo ink. The Bamboo cardstock piece has a grid pattern on it. That was created by using the scoring blade of a paper cutter and making a score mark every half inch on the back of the cardstock. I then turned the cardstock over and sanded the front to expose the white core of our cardstock and the grid pattern.

The flowers are also edged in Bamboo ink and the top flower is also up on pop dots. The centers of the flowers are just a half inch circle punched out of the dotted Silhouette papers. The leaves are also the same paper. I just stamped the leaves on the back of the paper and cut them out.

The ribbon is from our Black Designer Ribbon Rounds Collection. The phrase is also edged in Bamboo ink.

The colors are Bamboo, Colonial White and Black.

Silhouette Layout

2008-02-16T18:51:00.007-06:00

This is a two page layout using Silhouette. It is partially copied from someone on the boards (sorry, don't know who...), but I did make a number of changes to it. It is the Three-Part Harmony layout in Imagine.

The phrase stamp is from the Follow Your Dreams set. One of my favorite quotes, it is Eleanor Roosevelt saying "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams".

The other stamp set used in Adorable Backgrounds on the White Daisy stripes across both pages. I also used one of the new Big Pinks Blooms with our ribbon from the Black Collection Designer Ribbon Rounds and a button from our Black My Accents threaded with Colonial White Waxy Flax.

Colors are Black, Bamboo, Colonial White & White Daisy.

Nature's Vein

2007-11-24T19:10:00.000-06:00

This layout is totally inspired by my upline, Lorri. Thanks for the great page!

The stamp sets used for the leaves is called Nature's Vein. It is a two part stamp set. First I stamped the base leaf on a scrap piece of paper for a lighter color (or a second generation color). Then I rolled the leaf stamp around on the ink pad to darken the edges. The second stamp is the leaf veins and that was stamped on top of the leaf. I used that technique on all my leaves and cut them out to attach to the pages.

The other stamp set used was the large Rustic Alphabet. I also used the same technique of rolling the edges to achieve a different look and darker edges on the letters.

The phrase reads "A fallen leaf is nothing more than summer's wave goodbye" and it is from the Summer's Wave set.

Our edge distressor was used on most of the cardstock to bring out the white core on the edges of the cardstock and to give it a nice distressed look.

Pewter spiral clips were added with Colonial White Organdy Ribbon. There is also a Clear Inspirations Friendship Dangle hanging from the lower spiral clip on the left page. The Dangle is tied to the spiral with Colonial White Waxy Flax.

And the colors are Pansy Purple, Sunflower, Chocolate and Vineyard Berry.

Snow Friends

2007-11-23T08:49:00.001-06:00

This card uses the adorable Stamp of the Month set for November called Snow Friends. The colors are Smokey Plum, Bamboo, Blush and Colonial White. The cute little snowman was colored with the Waterbrush and the ink pads. I distressed the edge of the Bamboo piece along with the Blush cardstock with Smokey Plum and there are a couple pewter brads in the Blush piece as well. The background on the Bamboo piece is also stamped with the stamps in that set, they are just stamped in second generation.

Then attached to the snowman piece is a pewter Photo Hanger with the Blush ribbon from the Colonial White Designer Ribbons Collection along with Colonial White Organdy ribbon tied to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T08:35:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share these wonderful napkin rings my Mom made yesterday for Thanksgiving dinner. They were such a creative addition to a great meal!

She used the turkey and phrase from the Holiday Jubliee set. Then the leaves are from our new Just Blooms Autumn Leaves. Those leaves are just fantastic, the picture in the catalog does not do them justice! Then she just attached them in a ring shape with a Cranberry brad. What a fantastic idea! I just loved it!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! =)

Halloween Fun!

2007-11-02T20:13:00.000-05:00

Halloween Fun is the name of this set and it is such a perfect name! The colors are Autumn Terracotta, Black, Pansy Purple and White Daisy. All of the cardstock has been crumpled then flattened out again. The large Pansy Purple piece was further distressed by running the Black ink pad over the cardstock while it was still somewhat crumpled.

The Happy Haunting phrase on the bottom of the card was first stamped in Black then stamped again just to the side in Autumn Terracotta. It seemed odd, but stamping it first in the Autumn Terracotta then stamping to the side in Black gives it a totally different look! I was surprised. It is a fun little effect for a Halloween card though.

The card was then finished off with two strips of hemp around the Black piece of cardstock.

Hope everyone had a Haunting Halloween!! =)

Simple Blossoms

2007-09-23T17:11:00.001-05:00

This Happy Birthday card uses the Simple Blossoms stamp set along with the Birthday Script set for the sentiment. The patterned paper is from the Winter Cozy B&T Collection in Petal. The card also uses the chenille Winter Cozy Collection of Sassy Strands and Just Blooms Autumn Daisy Paper Flowers with an eyelet in the middle.

Beary Much

2007-09-23T16:30:00.001-05:00

Here is a card I made for my cousin's baby shower. It uses the Beary much stamp set. I had to stamp the large bear with a mask for the small bear in order to be able to stamp the smaller bear there and in order to be able to stamp him in another color (the two bears are two different stamps). The colors used are Chocolate, Twilight and Colonial White. The patterned paper is from the Simple Pleasures Level 2 Paper Packet. The right side is random stamped and the images were stamped off, or second generation stamped, in order to acheive the lighter color. The "welcome little one" and the small heart are from the Random Thoughts set. That whole heart (the large one with the words inside) is also popped up on foam tape for a little dimension. Lastly I turned up the corner, covered it in Twilight cardstock, added a brad and stamped the cute little bear print on the bottom.

A Little Bee

2007-09-23T16:24:00.000-05:00

This is one (of the many!) of my favorite stamp sets called A Little Bee. The patterned paper is from our B&T Winter Cozy collection, the color is Blush. The other color used is Petal and Colonial White. The top is just random stamped from other stamps in the set. The Little Bee part is also up on foam tape to give it some dimension.

New Downline!

2007-09-20T14:19:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to welcome my newest (and first) downline, Angi! I am so glad you signed up with CTMH and hope you love it as much as I do! YAY, Horray and Welcome!! =)

-Shannon

Sweet Harmony

2007-08-25T17:16:00.001-05:00

This card is made from the beautiful Sweet Harmony Paper Packet. The stamp set used is called Finding Beauty.

Colors are Amethyst, Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, Blush and Colonial White.

The flower is stamped and then cut out. The tail end of it is then looped around the Blush ribbon found in the Colonial White Designer Ribbon Rounds Collection.

Sonata Card

2007-08-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

This card has a little different of an opening. The front of the card does not go all the way to the other side. It has a nice little curve and the Lilac Mist paper is actually on the inside of the card.

The card uses the Sonata Level 2 Paper Packet along with the Floral Delights set. Colors are Lilac Mist, Buttercup, Chocolate, Hollyhock and Colonial White.

The flower on the front is actually dimensional. There are three different layers to the flower, it may be hard to see in the picture. Each layer is cut out then added to the card using foam tape to give it that extra dimension.

Get Well Card

2007-08-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

This is another card using the Floral Tapestry papers along with the Beloved Blossoms set. I made this for my Grandmother after she had surgery. Colors are Orchid Bouquet, Garden Green and Colonial White. The "Get Well" sentiment is from the For Every Occassion set.

The flower on this one is stamped in Orchid Bouquet ink and then I just rolled the edges in Petal to give it a little bit of contrast and color. All the edges of the Colonial White cardstock are also edged in Orchid Bouquet ink as well.

Floral Tapestry

2007-08-19T12:32:00.001-05:00

I just love the way this layout turned out! I have never really used our Stickease before, turns out they were a lot of fun and very easy to use. They are very thick stickers, like cardstock in their thickness. I think I will be using more of them from now on!!

The paper is the beautiful Floral Tapestry paper and the colors are Garden Green, Twilight, Vanilla Cream and Orchid Bouquet.

There is no stamping on this layout, it just makes use of the Floral Tapestry Level 2 My Stickease and a few embellishments such as silver brads and our White Dasiy Variety Pack Just Blooms Paper Flowers.

Majestic Blue

2007-08-19T11:47:00.000-05:00

Here is a layout I made using the Majestic Blue papers. It also uses the Vintage Postcard and New Horizons stamp sets. Colors are Outdoor Denim, Bamboo, Desert Sand, Colonial White and Crystal Blue. I also used the new Creative Clips on the right page along with the Outdoor Denim Designer Ribbon wrapped around it. The layout also make use of the Outdoor Denim My Accents including several brads, a spiral clip and a Button Nail Head.

Beloved Blossoms

2007-08-16T17:51:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to share a symapthy card that I made for a friend of mine after her Dad passed away. Sympathy cards always seem so hard to make for me, and perhaps it is just because of what it is being a sympathy card. It is always a rough time. So I wanted to share this card in case others get blocked like I do when they have to make these cards.

The stamp set is called Beloved Blossoms and I stamped the large flower in Orchid Bouquet ink then just rolled the edges of the flower in Petal ink to give it just a little shade varation. The phrase came from the Comforting Thoughts set. The paper is from the Floral Tapestry paper packet and the colors are Garden Green, Orchid Bouquet and Colonial White. The flowers are from the Autumn Daisy Paper Flowers collection and the brad used with the flowers is from the Mini Medley Accents Summer Celebration Collection. There is also a Silver Photo Clip used by the stamped image of the flower. The main base of Garden Green cardstock is also crumpled just a bit to give it some texture.

Little Girls Layout

2007-08-12T13:04:00.000-05:00

My Mom created this layout and I just love it! She used the Little Girls set and lot of glitter. The glitter really added an extra "pop" to this page! It turned out great =)

It is Cherish's Treasure Tags layout.

The colors are Breeze, Watermelon, Blush, Twilight and White Daisy.

Free Spirit and Let's Get Together Papers

2007-08-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

Hello! Sorry I have not had a chance to post lately. Too much overtime at work!

Anyway, I have a big workshop coming up and here is one of the layouts I created for it. It is Cherish's Accent Emphasis layout.

The stamp set used was Free Spirit and papers are from the Let's Get Together paper packet. It also uses 3 of the 6 different ribbons in the Garden Green Designer Ribbon collection. And I used a new Clear Inspiration Friendship Dangle (love those!) hung from a small piece of Waxy Flax tied around the loop in a Cranberry safety pin on the top of the left page.

Colors are Cranberry, Garden Green, Breeze, Buttercup and Colonial White.

Hope you are staying cool! =)

-Shannon

Promise Of Spring

2007-07-18T18:34:00.000-05:00

Here is a card using the same Promise of Spring stamp set used on the pages below. The colors are Olive, Smokey Plum & Colonial White.

Heart Of Winter

2007-07-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

In the Heart of Winter lies the Promise of Spring!

Promise of Spring is the name of this beautiful stamp set. These 4 pages were made as part of the Heart of Winter special through CTMH in January.

The colors on these pages are Smokey Plum, Olive, Bamboo and Colonial White.

There are all kinds of techniques used here, including sanding (to show our beautiful white core on our cardstock), distressing, inking and sponging. Plus there are several embellishments included as well.

I just love these pages, I think they are so beautiful!!

And here is the other set of pages.

And here are a couple closeups of the artwork and embellishements.

All My Love

2007-07-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

Here is a cute little 4" x 4" card using the All My Love set. The colors are Hollyhock, Baby Pink and Colonial White. The ribbon is also Baby Pink.

Bargello Technique

2007-07-13T18:04:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to also mention that you can click on all the images to get a larger picture!

This 6" x 6" page was also done for a technique swap. I chose to do the Bargello technique. It is actually an old old technique used in quilting and has now been adapted to cardmaking.

The paper is from CTMH's Sonata paper packet and the stamps are from the Floral Delights set. The colors are Buttercup, Chocolate, Hollyhock, Colonial White and there is some Lilac Mist in the papers.

I also used the new Natural Twill found in our Ribbon Rounds White Daisy Collection along with the Bigger Brads in Chocolate and Chocolate Organdy Ribbon.

Rustic Flowers 9x9 Page

2007-07-12T17:58:00.000-05:00

I just love how this page turned out! Okay maybe it is the colors that I love too =)

The stamp set used is Rustic Flowers. Colors are Sweet Leaf, Blush, Crystal Blue and Colonial White. The brads are from the Colonial White My Accents and the ribbon is from the Colonial White Collection Designer Ribbons (in this case, though the ribbon is actually Blush).

The edges of the three Colonial White strips on the top left are also edged in Crystal Blue.

Dainty

2007-07-11T19:34:00.000-05:00

This card uses the CTMH's Dainty set. Colors are Olive and Petal.

The card uses a "latch" to close. The picture below shows the card open.

Friendship Flowers

2007-07-09T18:17:00.000-05:00

This card uses the Friendship Flowers set along with the For Every Occasion set.

Colors are Heavenly Blue, Garden Green and Colonial White.

It also uses a Photo Hanger accent along with Natural Twill.

Rustic Flowers

2007-07-09T18:03:00.000-05:00

This 12" x 12" layout uses the Rustic Flowers stamp set.

Colors are Blush, Buttercup, Garden Green and Black. They make a very stricking combination!

Wonderful Charms

2007-07-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

This uses the CTMH Wonderful Charms set. I love this set!

Colors are Twilight, Garden Green, Chocolate, Bamboo and Colonial White.

I used the Waterbrush with our inkpads to color the flowers and ants.

Celebrate!

2007-07-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

Made this 9" x 9" page for a gathering I had recently. It went over great! I love the colors and how bright and cheery they are!

Colors are Topiary, Dutch Blue, Watermelon and White Daisy. The stamp set used is called "It's A Party!". I used White Daisy My Accents for the brads and used the White Daisy Sassy Strands for the strings of the balloons. (The balloons are from the Birthday Bash set.) And I used White Daisy ink to stamp the "Celebrate" on the left side of the page. I also used CTMH's stapler and the pink staples for the ribbon on the tags.

Graduation Pages

2007-07-04T19:18:00.001-05:00

Hello again!

I wanted to share the pages I made for my younger Sister's graduation. She graduated from Pharmacy school and is now a licensed Pharmacist! These pages came from CTMH's My Reflections Collection Scrapbook Kits. I used their Graduation kit and the colors are Black, Bamboo and Colonial White. The smaller black squares also have Acrylic Squares with Graduation symbols in them (it may be hard to see in the pictures). Now I just have to pick some of the many pictures I took that day to put on her pages!

Air Mail Technique Page

2007-06-30T18:51:00.000-05:00

This is a technique page I made for a recent swap. It uses a simple Dynamo labeler. You can run paper through it instead of the tape and create some very cool embellishments!

The CTMH stamp set used is Air Mail and the colors are Bamboo, Desert Sand, Twilight and Colonial White. The patterned paper on the left is from Simple Pleasures Level 2 kit.

-Shannon

Published!

2007-06-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

WOW, I cannot believe it! I am finally published! One of the Close to my Heart cards I made was just published in the upcoming Rubber Stamper magazine! I am so excited I can hardly believe it!!! =)

The Rubber Stamper magazine is the July/August 2007 issue and will probably be out on newsstands at the beginning of July. I have my card published in page 41.

The CTMH stamp set used is called Snap, Crackle, Pop. I did a lot of ink distressing on the card in addition to a lot of masking on the fireworks.

This is such a huge honor for me and I am really just truly amazed... and happy!!! =)

-Shannon