I'm back and have a card, Huzzah!

     Sorry, I've been MIA. I've gone up to my craft room each day and couldn't figure out the problem. I didn't know if it was that I'd lost my creativity, or I was chasing too many rabbits (I had a confirmation card, a birthday card, a wedding card and graduation cards that I could make) or what. Each day I'd finally pick out papers, for one of the projects, but just couldn't get started, so I'd straiten something up and call it a day. I eventually decided it must be lack a focus, from too many different directions, but today it dawned on me. There is a type of migraine that doesn't cause pain, but causes fuzzy thinking. I recently learned about it. All these years, I just thought it was me. Each night I end up with a migraine, but no pain during the day. When a friend and I went out to lunch yesterday and then stopped for some grocery items, I just couldn't think what I needed. It was my idea to stop and I just couldn't think. Today, the light bulb went off. That's been the problem all week.
     My plans were to get started after today's errands. So, after I got home today, the weather was gorgeous, relatively speaking and I just couldn't start in, indoors, ha ha. What did I find when I went to clean up a bit in my roses?

     That's the end of a disconnected gutter that the baby bunny is thinking about hiding in. I explained to him that bunnies, despite my garden, have a special place in our yard (my DS's special stuffed toy when he was little was a bunny) and he need to watch out for the neighborhood cats. then I backed away and went in to create this card for a young man's confirmation. I used Clear Dollar Stamps's Die Cuts called Cross Messages Set and the Cross Messages Clear Acrylic Stamps. I used gold embossing powder on the on the cross and sentiment, but it didn't show up well in the photo. Looking at the photo, I'm wondering who took these photos? ;- ) The embossing is actually very shiny and elegant looking in person, just as shiny as the gold brads.

     The sentiment on the inside was written by my husband and the font is Lucida Calligraphy, which is standard on Mac's, I'm not sure about PC's . I colored the sticker with copics, because it had been pink. The REJOICE was an item I've had for awhile.

     What would I do differently? I'd glue the sentiment centered, right to left on the inside ;- ) Remember no one is perfect, but God and I'm always proving that. I should have made the type smaller and made the white sentiment piece smaller. I'm happy with the front though.

     Just an update on the puppies, I need to pick one, of the two and they are soooo cute I can't decide. If I take them both, I'm hoping one of you will take us in ;- ) 'Cause I'm sure DH won't let us stay. Here they are.

    
     Thanks for stopping by and reading today's ramblings. Please leave a comment, because your visit means so much to me. Have a blessed weekend.

Give-away of the Anniversary Expression 2!

     Everyday Cricut is having a live ustream give-away of the new Anniversary Expression 2 by Provo Craft.  Click here to get more info. You can enter up until 6pm Central Daylight Time, Monday April 26th so Hurry if you are interested!

Guy cards can by fun.

     Today's card is for a guy who is 24 and we've known him since he was born.  He is someone who has kept that kid sense of fun. He loves working with kids at his Church. When we use to hike together, he use to always point out all the different types of mushrooms. His mom always said, that would be all the wildlife we would see, hiking with her 3 rambunctious boys ;- ) Pretty much was, except the time we found a rattlesnake. So for his card, I used the mushroom from Smily Cards, that was offered free from Provo Craft to Gypsy owners, and turned it into a shaped card. This was only the second time I've made my own shaped card and the first time with the Gypsy. Despite a few problems, figuring out what is what, with the layering, since Smily Cards doesn't have a handbook, I muddled through. So here it is.

     Pretty cute mushroom. On the inside, I used Print Shop to do the sentiment digitally and it's ability to shape the font block, first in a half circle and then in a square. I designed a smaller mushroom, on the Gypsy, figured out for sure where it would cut and put my printed paper there on the mat. The fonts I used were LD Jumpy from Lettering Delights (you can click on the link on the right bar of my blog, last week for their sale) and Casque Open Face Wacky (which is a free font available at a number of places, I don't remember where I got it though, just google font + it's name).

     I'm not usually it to puns, but it seemed to fit. What would I do differently. Well, some things were stretching for me, some were fixing mistakes. Not going to tell you which ;- ) For a guy, I think it works. How about you? Thanks for stopping by. Have a Blessed and relaxing Easter. Hope you are spending with your family. Please, leave me a comment. they are very much appreciated and I love hearing from you. Hugs, Debbie!

Last of the 3 altered items.

     I'm afraid I don't have a picture of the other 2 items that were part of this set. (You can see the designs of the other 2 sets in the posts Here and Here. The final junior legal pad was made with Summer Song paper, by My Mind's Eye. I love the bright colors of this paper and the glitter and embossing that is on this paper. My friend's oldest daughter is married and went to Hawaii for her honeymoon, so I choose the hibiscus flower from the Storybook cartridge, for her embellishment, along with it's shadow. On this item I added a ribbon, because I didn't like the way the swirl paper would look with the dot paper, I had used with the rest of the set, if I used it here as a border. I also added a  long border, that is from the page with the Hibiscus section of the Storybook cart. I inked and embossed it with clear embossing powder. The embossing darkened it so much, I didn't need to bother with inking.

     On the inside, I just covered the top of the paper pad to make it look nice. In this case, the hibiscus element  when cut at 3/4 of an inch didn't look as nice as I would have liked. The recipient loves Hershey's chocolate (you wouldn't know it by looking at her.) So I added a stamped sentiment from a dollar stamp set I picked up at JoAnn's. It just seemed fitting and I knew it would make her smile.

     What would I do differently? Not sure. I struggled with the flower for awhile. I worked at it so it wouldn't look flat, but not too artificial either. I was, finally, pretty happy with it. Let me know what you think.

     I'm working on.... you'll never guess, no not in a million years.... another guy card. Otherwise, I might have had 2 things to show. I finally figured out, what I would do and planned on making a shaped card on the Gypsy when I went downstairs, but then life got in the way and that part didn't get done. Well, tomorrow is another day and I'll start working on it then, so that is what I should be posting next.
Thanks, as always for spending some of your precious time with me, especially with Easter so close. Leave a comment if you have a moment. I truly  appreciate hearing from you and knowing you stopped by. Have a Blessed Easter, if I don't talk to you before then. Enjoy your family!

2nd of 3 designs of altered items.

     Today's post, as you can tell from the title, isn't a card, but the next of 3 designs of of altered items. I made 2 items for my friend's daughters for Christmas and promised the final item for Easter. I showed the first design on my post here. This one is the same item, a junior legal pad, only I used paper from DCWV's Linen Closet's 8x8 pad and also, Bazzil's Swimming Pool.  I really like Linen Closet. The font is from Cricut's Storybook Cartridge.

     Below are the other items in the set, that I made for Christmas. Sorry, that the photo isn't very good, but I forgot to take a photo (well, I finished them just before we left to go there) and my DH took one there after the gifts were opened, with his cell phone.

     These are a Post-it note holder and a calendar that I found at Michael's for a $1 and recovered, as well as I pen that I matched to the set. The calendar was actually very attractive inside. It was nicer, than some more expensive ones, I found at office supply stores. The lighter blue papers are the same color as the paper in the accent on the "C", that's how bad the photo is ;- )

     Hope you had a great Palm Sunday. We had some snow and ice balls yesterday, YUK! And some areas are going to see snow tonight >.< , but it won't last. It was 50 and sunny today. I am tired of it though and wish the real spring would please stand up! Thanks for stopping by and sharing a few moments with me. As always, your comments are greatly appreciated. Have a wonderful week. 

Card for a friend.

     Today's card is for a friend who had foot surgery. Her son and mine became best friends in middle school and she was one of my son's teachers (part of the parochial school experience.) Her son is one of the college students to whom I send cards. This stamp set is part of the Honey POP sets that you can use the honey comb tissue paper with, though I didn't use the tissue paper cut-out here, because I was going to include a longer message and didn't want a pop-up. The images and the sentiment are all from the Carrot Bunny HoneyPOP Clear Set and you can find them on line at InkyAntics.com  The paper is Summer Song by My Mind's Eye. I really like how this turned out. I would think it was someone else's card, except the ribbon is crocked ;- ) When the Amish make a quilt, they always have a mistake in it, because they believe only God is perfect. I think this is a great way to create ;- ),  esp. since I'm a recovering perfectionist. It's a much less stressful way to live.

     The inside message was created digitally using Print Shop and 2 fonts from Lettering Delights called LD Soccer Mom and LD Wedding.

     What would I do differently? I guess I could have rounded all 4 corners, but I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by and sharing you thoughts and time with me. Please leave a comment if you have a moment, I'd love to know you were here. Have a blessed weekend!

SVG freebie

     Just thought I make a quick post to let you know that Svg Cuts has a freebie called My Mom's Attic. You can get it by clicking Here. It has scallop circles and squares, the words "all the girls" our family" and "thanks" as well as 2 other design elements for a total of 13 svg files. They can be used with the Sure Cuts A Lot program or any other program that uses svg files. If you are interested in getting Sure Cuts A Lot there is a link on the right side of my blog. So go and check out these freebies from Svg Cuts and have a great day.

Little girl card with Imagine

     Well, here is the card I promised. Finally, I get to do a card for a girl, with pink and everything ;- ) I decided to go with Nursery Tales. It came with my Imagine and has very cute images. I don't have a lot of use for them because, I don't make many cards for little ones, so I wanted to take advantage of this chance. (Wow, that was a long sentence.) I realize with some creativity, I can come up with things for others from this cartridge, but sometimes, it's just nice to get to use things without too much switching around.

     The font is from Storybook and uses the pattern from the Nursery Tales Imagine cart. The Imagine did a nice job cutting such a thin font. The number 4 is from Birthday Bash, because I wanted a boxier font there. I split the Imagine image into layers and popped things up and added  glitter gel pen to add sparkle. The scalloped circle shape is one of the pre-loaded shapes that comes on the Imagine. I used Judi-kins Diamond Glaze on the mushroom caps, unfortunately one cracked :- (

Click on photos to see them larger.

     I tried something new on the inside. I did the message digitally using Imprint MT Shadow. To get it to print on the mat that the Imagine printed, I printed it first on regular printer paper and had the Imagine just cut the mat without printing to make sure the printing would fit. Then, I used a repositionable tape runner to attach the Imagine printed and cut piece to a piece of printer paper in the place where it printed the sentiment the last time. Knowing which way to put the paper in your printer is essential. Put the paper in the printer and print it again and it should print on the card stock. I made some extra layers from the image I used on the front to embellish the inside and sparkled them as well.

     What would I do differently? Well, I had meant to round the corners, but forgot until after I had put the layers on the front. I think that would be a much nicer look. I should have placed the word turning straight >.<  I was thinking that a rosette might look nice under the 4, but then I really would have had to get the word turning straight >.<  Good things 4 y.o. aren't that critical. What do you think?

     Thanks for stopping by today. Please leave a comment if you have time. It's wonderful knowing you were here. Have a blessed rest of the week and may your days be inspired!

     

Nothing like a card ;- )

     I don't have a card to post today, though I have one half finished and I will post it tomorrow. I wanted to share with you some news that was exciting to me. At the end of last July we had to put down our sweet dog Max. That is his photo that I use for my avatar. Today I received news, from a breeder that I had contacted, that her dog has had puppies, including 2 males ;- ) So, I got my deposit in to her. Here are their sweet photos.

     They will be 2 weeks on Sat. I can hardly wait until they are ready to go to a new home and 1 will come to mine! They are Norwegian Elkhounds and are actually born totally black. With my son going away to college and my husband traveling for work some times, I have really missed having the dog here with me. At least when I talk, I can address the comments to the dog and I don't seem so crazy ;- ) This has been the first time I have been totally alone in the house without a dog or child. It is very odd to me, but at least it will be remedied soon. Thanks for letting me share my news with YOU! Have a great week and you can look forward to finally seeing a girl card tomorrow. Hugs, debbie.

Altered Easter Gift

     Today I worked on an altered project. For Christmas, I had made my friend's 3 daughters, altered items, because I'm not allowed to buy them Christmas gifts anymore. I was suppose to stop when each one reached 21. Well, that's just no fun. I don't have much family and they are like family to me, so at first I bought the oldest giant Hershey bars, because they were her favorite and didn't cost much. Then, after 2 of them were 21 and the 3rd seemed to think those Hershey bars looked awfully good, I started making them all gifts and giving them all Hershey bars and the youngest also got bought gifts, for Christmas, birthday and Easter. Now, all 3 are over 21, so I try to think of something to make, if I have time. I may start making a special gift for 1 and rotating, but this past Christmas I had a plan for 3 altered items, but time got in the way and I realized I'd only finish 2 per, so I figured I could give them the 3rd for Easter. For Christmas, each got a post-it note holder with a mini-sharpie and a purse-sized calendar (I found them at Michael's for $1 and they were extremely nice inside) with a pen to match. Each set is different. Here is the one for the middle girl, whose Easter gift I worked on today.

Sorry, the photos are so bad, but I had finished them so close to delivery time, 

I'd forgotten to take pictures and DH took these there,

 after they were opened with his camera phone.

     Today's item is a jr. legal pad. The heart is from the Storybook cartridge, as is the corner flourish. Today's pictures are a bit better, but you can't see that I added perfect pearls to the heart to give it some shimmer. I didn't want to add glitter, because I didn't want it coming off on her. I can't remember what the paper was, because I put the leftovers aside, so I would be sure to have them to make the final project. If you are interested, just leave me a note and I will look harder. I used a white cardstock cover, because the patterned card stock for this set was too thin and I didn't have enough of the fuchsia (it is Core'dinations) to make a cover. I'm not sure I would have wanted that anyway, but that's water under the bridge.

The top paper is more of a lightish sandy-yellow than the very yellow

it appears in the photo above this one.

Inside

Back

     What would I do differently? well, I might have heat embossed the heart. I had done that on the other parts of the set. Also, I would have used the lighter color for the heart on the inside. I glued it before trying it on for size and really didn't like it, but it was too late. I had made sets like these for the secretarial staff at our Church, as a secret gift, only using composition notebooks instead of the jr. legal pads. They were also made with 4 different themes (we have 4 secretaries) and 4 different paper color collections. I may post them at the end, when I finish all 3 jr. legal pads. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment, they mean so much to me. Have a blessed week.

On the inside...

      Well, today I promised you the inside of the card I showed you on yesterday's post. The image and the font are from Birthday Bash. The sentiment is made to go with the cupcake and is the shift key for the cupcake image on the Birthday Bash cartridge. I re-cut the flame of the cupcake and replaced the green part. The 3 was the leftover cutout from cutting the balloon on the front.  I used divine swirls embossing on the cupcake. Now, here it is.

     I mentioned getting Lemon Flowers Stack by DCWV yesterday, but I hadn't taken any pictures. Today I thought I show you this lovely sparkly paper. Love the brightness!

Each print comes in different colors. For example the yellow one will also come in green and vice versa. The black and grey comes in a yellow and tan. The first, third and fifth (in the row above are glittered.) Click the photos to see them larger.

There are 4x6 mat stacks too.

This one has the same patterns only the prints are smaller to match the 4x6 size.

These are nicely textured, metallic or glittered. Again I found them for 50% off at JoAnn's.

     Thanks for stopping by today. Have a super weekend. We're expecting very warm temperatures here, of course that means storms as well. Please leave a comment if you have time, I really appreciate hearing from you and knowing you were here.

Yes, it's another guy card.

     Well, this guy is little. I remembered later, that I do have a little girl birthday first. Darn, it would have been a nice change of pace ;- ) This little ones Grandmother, told me he likes penguins, so I used Cricut's Create a Critter for the Penguin and the Balloon, using the Gypsy to add the number 3 to the balloon. The font, the sentiment and card base come from Birthday Bash. I too, was frustrated and annoyed after reading Provo Crafts "Official Statement" on their lawsuits today. Unfortunately, I have too much invested in the Cricut et. al. and not enough money to switch horses at this point, so I have to stick with the pony I'm riding. I don't plan on upgrading my Expression, though, and will continue on with SCAL, because that was a major factor in my purchase decision.  OK, back to the card now...

 
     What does the inside look like? Well, you'll have to wait to tomorrow to see. Why? Because it's not finished yet, he he! I did get some great paper at JoAnn's today. The had DCWV on sale for 50% off and I picked up Lemon Flowers (the 12 X12 and both mat stacks). Archiver also has had these new stamps and honeycomb papers that are really neat. See the line here. I had to put my name on the list and my stamp came in today and I had a 30% off coupon. I've heard that they've run out at many of their stores. I hope to use them soon.

     Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment if you have the time. I really appreciate them all.
Have a blessed and inspired day!

Artistic Inspiration!

     Well, I didn't make it to my craft room today. I had to finish up editing those photos because my online photo printing place closes today and I wanted to get a last batch printed. I didn't want you to not be inspired however, if I do give you some inspiration or ideas that is. Soooo, I decided to share some photos of art from Chicago's art Institute and maybe you will be inspired from the Masters. If it doesn't inspire your card making, maybe it will inspire some other craft or art you do. Chicago has a great collection of famous paintings. If you are ever here, you should definitely visit the museum if you are an art lover.

This Renoir is my DH's favorite painting.

     No, I'm not caught up to this Christmas. (I wish.) These are Christmas 2008 and I didn't even get them uploaded :- ( Maybe you've heard of Chicago's Millennium Park. One of the large sculptures there is called Cloud Gate by the artist and The Bean, by most Chicagoans. It's near the Art Institute and another must see.

Because of it's reflectiveness, it never looks the same and it pulls you in.

Everyone of all ages, finds it interactive and irresistible.

This is the view from underneath.

     So I hope you found something inspiring for your craft or entertaining. plus, you got to see a rare online photo of me.  I love photos of kids. Even when they aren't mine. Thanks for stopping by and have a glorious day.

21st birthday for a guy.

     I know it's been guy, guy, guy. Doesn't it seem to go in streaks like that!? Well as you can see from the title, this one is a special birthday, a 21st! I used SCAL for this one. Unfortunately I had had the drive on that computer die not long ago and I hadn't reloaded my fonts. Well, I didn't feel like it yesterday, so I just made due with a font that comes standard on an IBM. This is radical for me, because I love fonts and IBM really doesn't have many (I'm a MAC person.) I used Trebuchet MS in bold, italic as the font to cut out the 21. I also duplicated it and set the style to pointy shadow, a very handy feature of SCAL. The paper for the main image is AC metallic (love this card stock : multi-cut it though.) The embossing is Cuttlebug's Christmas Stars.

     The inside, as usual was done digitally, and here I got to use more interesting fonts. The font is LD Dabble, from Lettering Delight (remember Dollar Days ;- ) for the main font  and NewWGL4font, for the word birthday. Now that is what the font called itself, but when I went to look it up on the internet, I kept finding a totally different font, so beats me where it came from. I believe I got it from Urban fonts, which has many great free fonts, so if you're in a browsing mood you might check them out. The embellishments are JoAnne's brand.

  
     I tried to show the glitter on the background paper, the metal embellishments and the effect of the clear gel pen that I added to the confetti on the word birthday. I thought of coloring it, but decided I liked the monochrome look better.

     What would I do differently. I don't think I'd do anything differently. I really like this card. It's pretty easy peasy. I have made one similar to it before, but lost the file in the hard drive problem. I did use a different font for the 21 and I probably would change that, to a font that had a bit more tip or kerning to it, to give more movement to the front. The embossing is new and I like how that worked on this card. The inside fonts are also new and I'm liking them as well. What's your take on this card? Thanks for coming by and sharing some of your precious time here. Please leave a comment so that I know you stopped by, they keep me inspired! Have a blessed and inspirational day.