Hoppy Birthday - Old School

All items used to make this card are retired Stampin' Up items. I loved this frog and the entire Pocket Fun set. This card was made for a boy birthday card swap. I think I was running behind, as usual, and never got the ribbons on the tags like I wanted. But I think I like it better this way. I think the ribbon would have covered up too much of that adorable frog!

Bird Brain

I love this sentiment by Amuse, can't you tell? And lately, I also seem to be very fond of this simple layout. This stamp was out of the dollar bin at Michaels, same with the ribbon. I tried to get a little creative by adding the flower in the birdies mouth, but it is still very simplistic. I leave to travel back home tomorrow morning EARLY! I can't wait to get back and get to work on some upcoming projects. My OCD is kicking in (Obsessive Craft Disorder) and I'm starting to have withdrawls :0)

Scottish Blackie

Well, I'm in Scotland now. A short prop engine plane ride along the Eastern coast got me here. I'm in Dundee which is just North of Edinburgh, Scotland's 4th largest city. Edinburgh will soon be home to Scotlands most famous ewe - Dolly! She will be stuffed and on permanent display in the Edinburgh science museum. So, to honor Scotland and their long history of wool and sheep, I thought I would post a card of a "blackie" I made awhile back. Another one of my favs by Anna Wight and Whipper Snapper. Did you know that almost all of the sheep here in Scotland have a colored marking on them to identify who the owner is? Kind of weird to see blue, red and green sheep walking around. Or even the occaisional Tartan Plaid!

Winter Sunflower

I made this card awhile ago and I think if I were to do it again I would do something to the flower. I just don't think it pops out enough. Maybe clear emboss it? maybe add another layer of petals? flocking? I love the sentiment and it makes me think that warmer weather and summer are just around the corner!!

London Fog

Since I'm in London I thought I would post something relevant. So here you go! This is one of my favorite Whipper Snapper stamps. I just think this little girl is too cute with her slicker and rubbers. And these two sentiments by Amuse lend themselves perfectly with this image. I used some Crystal Effects on the raindrops and puddle

to give them some transparency and dimension. The 1st card was designed for my mom - she loves anything purple. But the card turned out so cute I couldn't send it to her!! (Don't worry I made her one too). The other was made using a bright colored piece of patterned paper I had laying around. I thought those bright colors would cheer anyone up on a gloomy day.

Simple Pleasures

I've had this card on the brain for awhile now. It all started when I went into my stamp bin last week and found this stamp by Inkadinkado that I've had for sooo long and never been inked. Being the mom of 3 boys, I was immediately drawn to the image. And since it was in the clearance bin, it was as good as gone! I'm not sure what "event" I would use this card for other than Fathers day. It reminded me of an old photopgraph so I tried antiquing the image and the papers to give it an older feel. Fun, easy and simple!

Splendiferous Day!

Yeah! We finally had a day above freezing!! It was still cold but plenty of sunshine, a splendiferous day indeed! This cute penguin, one of my first Whipper Stamps by Anna Wight was colored using the colored pencils and Gamsol technique.

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Amuse
Paper: Cardstock (Stampin' Up!), Patterned paper unknown
Ribbon: Stampin' Up!

Chill Out!

O.K. - January in Northern Illinois - you can pretty much count on it being cold, but today was INSANE! My car registered -9 on the way to work and it rose to a balmy -4 on the way home!! So came the inspiration for this card. I wanted to make a winter card that wasn't necessarily a Christmas card. Pudgy, however, was part of my original Christmas card idea and since I had about 25 of him already stamped and colored, I thought he'd be perfect for this card! I cut out just the scarf portion of another image and layered it on top of him to give him some dimension. I also added Martha Stewart chunky snow glitter to the bottom and dazzling diamonds to the other areas to give him lots of sparkle :0)




Stamps - Pudgy (Whipper Snapper), Sentiment (Michaels dollar bin)
Paper - Skinny Dress (Chatterbox Inc.), Close to Cocoa Cardstock (Stampin' Up)
Embelishments - Ribbon (Michaeels), Buttons (Paper Studio), Glitter (Martha Stewart and Stampin' UP!)

Purse-onally Yours

This was my entry for a newly created monthly paper challenge started at work. The faux closure is actually an insert you pull out that can hold a gift card.
Paper Challenge Rules:
1. You get one 12 x 12 sheet of patterened paper chosen by someone else in the group
2. Design a minimum of one card for each participant
Some of the other participants were much more resourceful than me and were able to create 4 and 5 cards for each person!! Now that's what I call scrappin'!

Text Me

"Tween"-agers aren't into cute. That was my mantra in creating this birthday card for a January card swap with co-workers. The theme was birthday so I wanted to create something that I could use for older boys. I went with the whole school -aged texting theme.