Thursday, July 28, 2011

Honey

I especially love stamps which feature an author's quote. Perhaps because I live and work in an area well-known for its famous authors, I am quite fond of sayings by Emerson and Thoreau especially (but haven't found any by Longfellow - maybe because his name would take up all the space on the stamp!) I most enjoy featuring such a quote with an image on the front of a card, and leave the sentiment to the inside. Sometimes it's like a puzzle to match up an interesting quote with an appropriate greeting; I think it's nice to customize a card to a particular person that way.



Having said all that, I made this card for no one in particular, but I would be happy to give it to any friend I wanted to send a little cheer to.

The So Saffron background is embossed with the Framed Tulips folder. I edged the Rich Razzleberry mat with the Pinking Hearts border punch and added small loops of R.R. taffeta ribbon, then popped it up with Stampin' Dimensionals. The flowers are from PTI Flower Fusion mini #4 and the quotation is colored with Pear Pizzazz and Razzleberry markers. "Thinking of you" is from PTI Tea for Two additions.






I love all the texture and depth created by the embossing, the punched border, and even the two-step stampin' on the flowers.



Maybe it's time to make a card series using all my Wayside author stamps... hhmmmmmmm, so many ideas but so little time... (let me know if you find a Longfellow quote!)






Sunday, July 24, 2011

Summer flowers

Hello...

Here is a trio of cards made using the Bigz Daisies #2 die. Last summer I was so enjoying the coneflowers, cosmos and black-eyed susans that I decided to feature them on a set of cards.

The coneflowers are Regal Rose with So Saffron centers, with Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze card stock and ribbons. The big grass stamp is from Inspired by Nature.

The cosmos are Pink Pirouette and Melon Mambo, with stems and poly-twill ribbon in Old Olive. The base card and background are both Naturals White card stock. The flower stems are from Inspired by Nature. I used both the Modern Label punch and the coordinated Magnetic Movers and Shapers die.


The black-eyed susans are Summer Sun and Chocolate Chip, with the stem portion of a stamp from a (retired) set called The Art of Life and a grass stamp I picked up from Ink About It. The butterflies are from Beautiful Wings embosslit - looks like Cameo Coral. (I keep a box filled with butterflies I cut out from scraps.)


At the end of last summer, I had quite a collection of little boxes made with the Scallop favor box (which has since retired). I had different color combos going with all the different flowers, but I gave them all away and these are all I have left. My favorite had white daisies and a Summer Sun corduroy button center on a Certainly Celery box... I'll have to make some more this summer!
















Friday, July 22, 2011

Is it a plane??

Is it a bird?

Is it a plane?


Is it a giant ball of flaming gas hurtling to earth at the speed of light????





I promised Eric we'd see fireworks for 4th of July this year.

We were enjoying a lovely party at Mark and Daphne's, but we had to leave early to meet up with our neighbors, who GPS'd us to the park in Newton and back.





Dominique and I took turns with the camera.


I tried taking photos of Toni and Jere, Tessa and Ben, but there were two guys standing right behind their chairs, and from my angle on the ground, the backdrop was not a pretty sight... I kept waiting for them to move but then the fireworks started and, well, you know....



It was a really lovely night to hang out with our friends, listening to great music and watching the fireworks shoot off right in front of us, celebrating the land of the free and the home of the brave.








As my mother used to say, "Ain't that grand?"












Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dream...


I love this stamp. Reading the words on it makes me happy. I think it is a nice, simple focal point for many kinds of sentiments, but I chose it because I wanted to highlight "wish" (in Old Olive).




The thin mats and grosgrain ribbon are Soft Suede. The stamp is retired and since I (can you guess?) borrowed it from Linda, I don't have the set to look up the name. (You'd never believe that I have a fairly extensive stamp collection myself!)


I originally used these colors and a similar design for Connor's 12th birthday card last year. I liked the jumping off spot all the words gave me to write a heartfelt message to him. Instead of a stamped background on the front, though, this time I embossed the front cover with one of my favorite embossing folders from Cuttlebug. "Happy Birthday" is from the recently retired hostess set called "Afterthoughts" but I left out the third line. I think this makes a nice masculine birthday card, even with the birds.




What do you imagine when you read these words?











Saturday, July 16, 2011

Happy Birthday, Linda!


I hope you get this card in the mail before you see it here, but it doesn't really matter. I know your birthday is in July (30th?) but I can't for the life of me find it on any of my calendars. I decided to send it mid-month before you go away, and anyway, I don't want to wait any more!

I made this for you when I opened my last box of PTI goodies. I don't know who makes the stamp - it's yours - but the sentiment is stamped in Crumb Cake. The Aqua Mist card is embossed with a Texturz plate from SU Backgrounds 1; So Saffron card stock matches one of the PTI felt flowers which are cut from Flower Fusion mini dies. I love this felt - it is so soft and beautifully colored. Fence die cut, Aqua Mist ribbon and buttons are all PTI (thanks, Linda!)

So, you see, this card really is meant for you. Thank you for blooming in my garden! Have a great trip and take lots of photos to share. I hope you enjoy a really happy birthday and an inspired and blessed year to come!

Karen

Friday, July 15, 2011

Basket of blooms


I love flowers and I love baskets... especially together! And the little bird is like a cherry (blueberry?) on top.... The main image stamp belongs to Linda and I stamped a few last time I visited. The sentiment is from this year's SAB set called So Happy for You.

I wonder, which photo do you like better? I took this by mistake with the flash but I decided to see how it looks in the blog compared to the regular light I usually use. It's not as harsh as most of the flash photos I've (mistakenly) shot; maybe the soft blue color didn't bounce the light so much... Speaking of colors, I've used Pool Party with Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade and Wisteria Wonder. I also used Crumb Cake and Sahara Sand for the basket, blended a little with a blender pen.


I colored the image with my SU markers this time, using a couple of hints I've gotten from Linda and even though it's not as nice or as polished as the one I did with Copics, I still like the coloring a lot and I love having the new In Color markers.


I frayed the edges of the Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon and added buttons from PTI.








A linen thread French knot ties up this little flower.



I hope you're enjoying a basket of your own blooms!



Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Happy Birthday, Dear JC, Happy Birthday to You!


Today is my sister Joyce's birthday and I made this card for her. Although red is her favorite color, I think she'll like the Rich Razzleberry just fine. I chose it to match the scarlet felt and paired it with Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake.




I love this embossing folder - the swirls frame an unembossed oval, perfect for the oval diecut.


The flower, stem and die are from PTI's Flower Fusion minis (mix and match). Sentiments are also PTI and the embossing folder is (probably Cuttlebug).



Joycie, sister dear, I'm sending you birthday wishes: I hope you have a lovely day at the lake!





Saturday, July 9, 2011

Friend


Isn't this shadow box card so pretty? I sent it to my friend Janice last year; she sent it back to me a few months later and I think it's time I returned it... Our friendship began 40 years ago this summer and was built and strengthened on a bond of exchanging interesting and unusual greeting cards. Janice's have often been mailed from some other part of the world; I recently came across a box of them from about 30 years ago: Wow, what a fun trip back in my memory to reread about some of our adventures so long ago!




This card is simple but impressive, I think, and the window sheet makes it shine. It folds flat to mail and pops up when you push in the ends.





I used Baja Breeze, Soft Sky (which is a lot like the new Pool Party) and Kiwi Kiss (which is suspiciously like Lucky Limeade) on Very Vanilla. Stamps are from the set Vintage Vogue.




Time to get this card in the mail, friend!



Thursday, July 7, 2011

Cute flower

Cute as an Inch, that is...
I enjoyed making these flowers so much. I just loved Cute as an Inch at first sight! (Thank you, Linda!)
I inked up the stamp with markers (Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake for beak and feet). The scallop punch flower base was cut from (retired SAB) paper pack.


This little petal card punch piece is adorable closed up and waiting for someone to open it... I embossed various flowers with different embossing folder - this one uses Perfect Polka Dots.






The sentiment is from Upsy Daisy. The leaf ribbon is from PTI.









Such a cheery little note, don't you think?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Happy Birthday, Eric!


Well, the plan was the drive-in (Pirates of the Caribbean - Cap'n Jack, be still my heart!) but thunderstorms were forecast all weekend. I'm not great for planning ahead as it is, so now what? Inspiration blessed me... Glow-in-the-dark miniature golf at the mall!

We went at dinnertime and had the place mostly to ourselves, so our sextuplet got to play through - with a few exceptions - and it took a while, but it was pretty cool. (But not as cool as these dudes... Whasa!)


You haven't lived until you see your children hip-hopping in the glow-in-the-dark (brought back many black-light memories, I have to admit, but alas, Hendrix and Zeppelin were missing...)

Some of us had more fun than others. I, for one, had a blast! The music was too loud, certain of my children were cranky, and it took forever to play 18 holes, but....... it was a great time. I enjoyed my children's company, and no matter what they might tell you, they had FUN!



They all loved attempting to traverse the lazer maze without tripping a beam.... not a great deal of success but plenty of willingness to challenge their prowess. (Don't you just love teens?)



We didn't get any photos of the revelers in the lazer maze, but it was cool to watch on the overhead screen, and they could have continued until they shook me upside for more coins, but fortunately, the hip-hop got to us all and we finally left, with a little daylight remaining, to track down the rest of the party stuff: shopping for cake, ice cream and soda with 5 wild children and a big take-out bag of Chinese food favorites! Don't forget the movie on PPV!

... And a little Cherry Cobbler splatter and a stampin' off Pacific Point shadow image made this card perfect for my cool dude. PTI's "Dude, You Rock" is a totally excellent - yeah, dude - way! to tell Eric how special he is. It looks a little plain, but the back was hopped up with a cute little gift card envelope with some I Tunes scratch to keep my kid in rock-hoppin'rhythm!



So, my hip-hopping jumping jiving lively lovely son, just want you to know that I know that you ROCK! (and ROLL!)



Happy Birthday, Eric! (my love, my heart)