My first step card and a second grandchild for a friend ;- )

     Today's card is my very first step card. I made it for my friend's son and daughter-in law. They just had a new baby girl ;- ) This is their second child and her big brother is very excited too! I've known my friend since second grade and she is the Godmother of my son, so I thought I do something a little extra for her granddaughter. I used an SVG freebie file from Cheryl First at Cafexpressions and Sure Cuts A Lot to cut the base of the card and the trim around the steps on my Expression.  She no longer offers it free, but has it for $1.50 and you can find it here. Her original also has stars and a rocking horse that I didn't use.

      I used my Cricut Imagine to print and cut the scene with the lamb (printed and cut in layers) from the Nursery Tales cartridge. I popped up most of the layers. I also  printed the paper I used for the base from that same cartridge on the Imagine, before cutting it with the Expression and Sure Cuts A Lot. (I only cut it at the size of 6 inches by 9 inches, not a full size sheet, because that was all I'd need.) The paper used for the edging on the steps is from Nursery Tales as well. That's one of the nice things about the Imagine. You can print the coordinating paper you need to go with the images you are using.

     The sentiment is from Hallmark Cards and was given to me by my neighbor. I thought it went well with the card. The rose is by Prima. Now I'd like your help. Do you like the turtle here? Here's a larger one from the lamb scene. I'm having trouble deciding (probably the slight headache I have), so I can use your opinion. Let, me know what you think. He's only attached with re-positional adhesive, so I can take him off ;- ) It could be his size or that I changed the ink cartridge and he's darker than the lamb.

     So there you go. My first step card ;- ) Have a great early weekend. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Hydrangeas in the fall and other inspiration.

     Well, I didn't get a card done today. I did get over to Archiver and did their Make n Take, but I didn't get a photo of it yet. I'll try to post it tomorrow. Saturday, I took photos of my hydrangeas, before I gave my camera to my son, for his class at the Disney Institute. (I'm really going to miss my camera :- (  ) I thought I'd better get those photos I wanted, since I won't get the camera back until the end of the month. The hydrangeas are the Endless Summer variety and bloom blue in the summer, but turn this neat burgundy shade as the season goes on. I didn't get a photo of it, but if you lift up the bloom, they are greenish. Very interesting.

Since, I was out, I decided to get some other photos as well. I figured, some of them could be used to make digital card elements or digital paper.

I don't know what's gotten into this rose bush, but I had to bend this rose down. It's over 6 feet tall. 

My puppy is now 6 months old. He loves to chase the bugs.

     

The end of my strawberry crop. Today the chipmunks were really after it.

     Well, we're expecting a few more beautiful days before the temperatures get seasonable ;- ) Hopefully there still is and Indian Summer to come. Love to craft, but hate to be inside when we have these exceptionally wonderful days! Have a great week.

Stop and smell the roses.

     The card I have for today, was made for a dear friend's daughter. I prepare you, for when you read the sentiment on the inside ;- ) I'm sure I will be getting a call from her mother, who was the Matron of Honor at my wedding. The image is a Hero Arts stamp and I painted it with water colors. I added and embellishment from Creative Charms. The pattern paper is from Paper Studio, as is the paper strip I used for the sentiment. I used a glitter pen over the blue Happy Birthday words and it darkened the whole look of the sentiment a bit too much, so I added the white dashes with a white Signo Gel pen to the top and bottom of the sentiment.

     I did struggle with what to write on the inside. It is the hardest part of making cards for me. Everything always seems so trite. Maria still has one of the first digital cards I ever made, going back to the Mac II with the first version of Print Shop, on a very dottie, dot matrix printer (maybe 26 years.) She also is the first recipient, of the first cut and pieced card I ever made, which was for her wedding shower (2 1/2 years ago). That's a lot of written sentiments. This sentiment was done digitally with a combination of Print Shop, using LD Penelope from Lettering Delights for the font and Photoshop Elements, using Inobscuro roses brushes to make the rose background. I "stamped" the rose, used the find edges filter with a darker color and then dragged it into Print Shop. I think it gave a very nice and artistic effect. I went over the rose outlines with a clear glitter pen. You can see the glitter better in the second photo of the inside, which has the colors wrong because of the setting sun, but does show the effect of the glitter. Just noticed, while looking at the photo, the font used for "Maria" is Black Rose. It's a free font that you can get from any number of free sites. I also went over the "29" with a gel pen.

 Click to make larger

Click to make larger - then you can see the glitter better, so I don't sound crazy ;- )

     As long as I'm talking about roses, Here are a few photos I took yesterday, of the roses from my new bush that we planted this year. OK, in the vase there is a ringer as well ;- ) I love the ruffled petals on this yellow rose.

     Thanks for coming by and spending some time here today. Please leave a comment. They really mean a lot to me. Have a blessed day!

Flower pics.

    I used today to get a handle on some of my digi files. The computer can be a wonderful tool, but it can also be a black hole, where so many digital stamps, svgs, digital papers, digital embellishments and such are lost to me. There are so many wonderful people on the internet who share the fruits of there creativity and give away image and svg files or design sketches (not to mention the ones I've purchased.) I save them on my computer, but lose track of what I have and don't think of using them when they would be perfect for a project. I had wished I had a doily svg for the birthday card I made a few days ago and couldn't find one, but when I organized some files today, there they were. I thought that I had them, but they hadn't been filed away yet. Then there are the fonts and Photoshop brushes... sheeesh!   After my son was born, I became a more visual person, so I need to look over what I have, every once in while, to refresh my memory ;- ) I try to make a print out of the new ones every few months and keep them in a 3-ring binder to make that easier too. The prepping, for the printing of the images, for the 3-ring binder, takes a lot of work too, but once it's done it is very handy and the copy of the page is on the computer as well.  I didn't get that far, but some computer housekeeping was accomplished. So, anyway, instead of a card, I thought I'd share a few photos from my vacation that you might like. Click on the photo to see it large, if you wish.

These two are from Universal Florida's park Islands of Adventure.

These are from the Disney World Parks.

One of the things that intrigued me, was the idea that someone has to totally create every detail and have it fabricated for the theme of each area of the different parks. What creative license, as well as starting from a fairly blank slate. Just the light fixtures alone are amazing. Who thinks of these things? These are all from the same area of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Notice the garbage cans on the sides of the sign for the Flame Tree Barbecue. 

     We have so many photos from our trip, I haven't finished editing them and we've been back home for a month now. Maybe I'll get to show you some more, the next time I come up blank with a card ;- ) I hope they gave you some new ideas or new ways to look at things. Or just entertained you for the moment. Have a creative day and please leave a comment. I really appreciate hearing from you.

Graduation season, too!

     Aaarragh! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted.  It's been crazy. We've picked up my son from college. He survived his freshman year! Yahooo! I've been lunching and visiting with friends with whom I've needed to catch up. Had to work on photos for the bulletin board honoring the confirmands at our Church (after doing the board totally for Good Friday and then totally over again for Easter, it needed to be re-done with the items I made to honor them). I am responsible for the board with the help of my tall, long-armed husband.

     At the confirmation, (it was split into 2 ceremonies this year- long story) my husband takes the photos and then I am responsible for editing them. I then,  put them onto a disk and each family receives one. So, this has all kept me very busy.
     I started this graduation card and kept working on it in small bits. It's not very detailed, but I would decide what I would do and then get to that one thing the next day. It was so disjointed, but I really like this easel card. There is no sentiment yet, because I haven't decided which graduate is getting this one. I have 6 total to do and I think only 2 may look like this one.  The rose is from the Walk In My Garden cart, done in her school colors. The oval and scalloped oval were done with nesties and I can't remember which cart the graduation cap was from. It was left over from some favor boxes, I made for my son's graduation last year. If you are interested, just leave a note and I will check the file in Design Studio and see which cart it's from.  The paper is from Paper Studio's Graduation Paper pack.

     I used a Perfect medium pen and Perfect Pearls in, (I believe) Sunflower, to accent the rose. I did the same with green Perfect Pearls on the leaves and stem. (Click the photo to see a larger image.) I used a white opaque pen on the word "grad".
     What would I do differently? I've thought about it a lot, since this card was done so helter skelter. I considered outlining the word "grad" with black gel pen, but my hand is not that steady. You could use a different outline method on the flower, such as stickles. I like the clean and uncluttered look of this card though. What do you think?
     Thanks for stopping by and spending some of your precious time on my blog. Please leave a comment. It is very rewarding to me, to know that you were here. Have a Blessed week.

Using the flower bouquet.

     I wasn't sure I was going to get today's card posted. I got a notice from my online photo company that they are going out of business, so I've been busy editing photos, to get some printed before they close. They are going to transfer all of my photos, that are stored on their site,  to Snapfish, but I like the quality of this company better and they were cheaper. I've gotten a large batch done,  and I have until April 4th.

     I made today's card using the flowers I made with flower soft, a number of posts ago. You can see them here. I purchased the lacy mat, the cone for the bouquet and the ribbon from Flowersoft. Custom Crops has them in different colors. I colored the pearls and  rhinestones with copics (E11 Barely Beige & Y17 Golden Yellow and B05 Process Blue & R29 Lipstick Red).  The sentiment is from Cricut's Storybook Cartridge. This is an anniversary card for a friend of mine that I've known since grammar school. She is my son's Godmother.

The inside was done digitally on Photoshop Elements 3, with a free brush called Valentine Clip Art 3 (to make the beautiful heart.) I think it's found here. If not, there a number of other cool free heart brushes at this site, including vol. 4. (I got it a long time ago, sorry.)  The font is from Scrap n Fonts, called  SNF Classy Charm.  They are having Dollar Days right now, too. Lettering Delights is having a contest for the Silhouette, electronic diecut machine, on their site. Their link is on my right sidebar. The 2 small flowers are stickers from Jolee, that a friend gave me for my birthday. 

     What would I do differently? The bouquet could have used 2 more flowers, but I decided this after I had glued them in and made it too difficult to add more. I meant to do more inking, but I always remember after I've glued the piece down. Why is that? What would you have done differently? Well, I have another boy birthday card to do. thanks for stopping by and sharing your time. Please share your thoughts as well. I truly appreciate hearing from you. Have a blessed weekend ;- )

  

More flowers...

     Today, I was able to get a new quilling board at Hobby Lobby and I found this product.

     DH had a 40% off coupon, as well, and this item cost $9 regularly. You get 120 die cuts to make into spiral roses and 80 die cut leaves. I thought for the time and paper savings, this was a good deal for me. I hadn't made the spiral roses yet, though they were on my list of to do flowers. Today was the day. The die cut sheet looks like this and the are 10 of them.

You get 3 sizes of flowers. Here is my result.

I used my quilling tool to form them and my Tweezer Bee to shape the petals.

     Next I got out my Flowersoft and made another flower I'd been meaning to try. I had purchased the supplies for this, sometime around Christmas. I decided to use the Delphinium Flowersoft on wires. Flowersoft TV has a special on Cardtoppers for Neon Flowersoft, which look pretty fun. You can find them here.  After you watch the show, you can click on offers, to see this week's deal. There is a new one every Friday.

I didn't have any styrofoam to stand them in to dry, so I improvised.

Here they are just lying on the craft sheet. I'm sure you'll see them in a card soon.

     I thought, OK, what now. I should make another flower, so I got some cuts I made with my Expression, when I first got it. When practicing on how to use the Expression, I used Accent Essentials and made flowers in different sizes and colors and stored them away for emergency, last minute card making. They have come in handy before. I have a number of sizes. These are 1 1/2  inches, 3/4 inches and 1/2 inches. I inked the edges and  I used a stylus to give them a 3D effect. I have in the past used the handle of a paint brush or the end of a pen cap to do this.  I curled the edges and added an embellishment.

     So there you go, 3 different homemade types of embellishments for you cards. You can, of course cut your own spirals for the roses, but some time savers, are what I need to actually get over some humps. Penny Duncan does have an SVG for the cut on her blog, as well, and that's the next weapon I'd use to get them made. Thanks, Penny!!!!!!!! ;- ) Maybe, quilling next, though I haven't made the paper rose from CHA (the Craft Hobby Association, winter show) yet. Thanks, for your time. Your comments are so very appreciated. Have a wonder-filled week.

Flowers... Sort Of.

      Well, we're finally heading into the weekend. Today I don't have a card, though I did have to make one more of those easy Thank-you cards, that are 2 posts earlier, for the Elders to sign, to be sent to the confirmation teachers at our Church. Evidently, my adding skills aren't what they use to be :P So, after that I finished up the daffodil I started yesterday. I had used the SVG that Penny Duncan had created. Hers turned out beautifully.  To view Penny's tutorial and/or get her SVG click here. Here is a photo of her finished flowers.

     Now I have created the Beginner cards cultivar variety of the daffodil. I did not have the correct color of re-inker to get yellow, so mine are orange. Also, I just did the flower part, because I didn't have the right wire or florist tape, but here you have my first try (my Expression needs a new blade, but I knew this was just a first attempt).

     So, not too bad. I had inked the edges, but the color blended in. I meant to try a brown before taking the photo, but I didn't. There is gold perfect pearls on the flower, but it doesn't show up well. I have some time to practice before Easter. 
  
    The other thing I tried today was Cosmo Cricket's Glubers. Now if you don't know what a Gluber is, it's a giant (in this case 2 inches), glue dot. It enables you to more easily make large fabric, ribbon and even paper flowers.  I had some fabric I won in a quilt hop, so I thought I'd try that. It is cream with a small white pattern, which is hard to see after I rolled it, for the flower. I set embellishments on it for the photo, to show a possibility, but I won't decorate it until I know what project I'm going to use it on. I might also be able to dye it with ink. I have a test piece of fabric drying overnight.

     I had made a trip to a different Michaels today, to look for a new quilling board. I found that Michaels is clearancing out what little quilling supplies they have. No boards, but I did pick up some quilling paper. I can't find my board (looking for it has been a major time eater for a few days now) and haven't quilled in years, but I have taken out some books from the library and would like to use it to make some card embellishments. As soon as I get a 40% coupon for Hobby Lobby and some time, you may be seein some of those creations here. The Michaels I was at had a lot of clearance items. They had a bunch of regular ribbon for $1, and I got my favorite guy paper pad from Basic Grey, Granola for $4.99 (12x12). Picked up some $1 stamps and some clearance embellishments and then had to hurry, because I promised DS I'd only be 5-10 minutes and he was waiting in the car. Got a partial save because DH came in to use the bathroom and then he went to the Office Max, so I knew I had a few more minutes, though I still heard that it took me more than 5 min ;- )


     I had planned on doing more this evening, but then the news came on and well, I wasn't much into crafting after watching the video from Japan. My mind was a bit distracted. So please offer up a prayer for the people there and be sure to hug your loved ones..... again. Thanks for sharing your time with me. Your comments keep me going. Have a blessed weekend.