Embrace Life

My mission for the day was to make a small set of cards for my home health aide to complement her other gift. It seemed like the perfect time to pull out my new "Embrace Life" SU! set and Ginger Blossom double-sided designer paper to make some quick ones, easy peasy. Colors used are Groovy Guava, River Rock, Ruby Red, and Cameo Coral. Oh yeah, I used some Wild Wasabi on one of the cards. Not much to them, since the fanciest things I used were a blender pen, some Wasabi double-stitched ribbon, and a bling brad from the Stampin' Up! Pretties kit. Most of the stamped images are from "Embrace Life," but I also grabbed some other stamps that were sitting out.

Moon Cards

This set of cards will be a holiday gift for my nurse, who likes blue and moons.



The image for this first card is embossed in detail silver and then layered on brushed silver cardstock, which is then layered on printed paper on a card base of Night of Navy.






I used the same image on this next one, only this time embossed in Silver Fire Opal. Layers are Whisper White, Night of Navy, and printed paper.






Soft Sky is the card base for the following card, with an image embossed in Gold Fire Opal layered on Night of Navy. I pulled out my southwest corner punch and created a frame for the image with gold string.






This next card turned out really cool-looking in real life, but as usual the photo doesn't do it justice. Images are stamped in Brilliant Blue and layered on Ballet Blue on top of a Brilliant Blue base. I used a spiral border stamp to create a background, and used Stickles to fill in the gaps between the rows.






This photo turned out rather dark, so you can't see how the image stamped in Craft Whisper White pops out against the background. Cardstock includes Night of Navy, Ballet Blue, and Brilliant Blue all layered on Whisper White cardstock. (I don't often think to use white as a card base!) Gold string provides a little interest.






I like the next card for its simplicity. I used the Aida Cloth background stamp with VersaMark on Ballet Blue, and layered the images in Brilliant Blue and Night of Navy. There's gold string on the spine for accent.






The card base for this next one is Brushed Silver. Even though the image is embossed in Detail Silver and looks quite stunning in person, the picture blurs it a bit. Layers of printed paper, Night of Navy, and Brushed Silver are quite striking, and the paper pierced corner adds a nice touch.






Here's a simple moon image embossed in Silver Fire Opal and layered on Night of Navy with printed paper. I added a silver star brad for accent.






I used Blue Bayou and Soft Sky for the following card, and accented with paper piercing and silver brads.






Here's another super simple Night of Navy card with layers of Soft Sky. The image is embossed in Gold Fire Opal, and I made use of my corner rounder punch.

Lovely as a Tree

I couldn't resist making one more card with this set while I had it out. Trees are embossed in detail gold on Handsome Hunter cardstock and layered with brushed gold cardstock.

Cards for Guys (Stragglers)

I woke up itching to stamp, so I whipped these puppies out even before I showered this morning.



Since my tree stamp had gold pigment ink on it already, thought I'd make another card similar to the one I made last night. This time I used a burgundy card base, embossed on Blue Bayou, and used brushed gold cardstock for accents. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!






The image on this next card is also from Lovely as a Tree, but this time I pulled out my detail silver embossing powder. Cardstock is Going Gray and Night of Navy, with print paper from who knows where.

Cards for Guys, by Request

I was requested to make some cards that would be appropriate to give to men for birthdays or whatever, and this is what I came up with. Some cards I created awhile ago and just tweaked today, and others are brand spankin' new.



These first two have a primitive (caveman, ha ha) feel to them. They've been looking for a home for some time, so tonight I added some fibers to the spines and told them they would soon be loved.






These next two were also made some time ago using Hero Arts stamps. The card base for the orange one has a leathery texture to it which is lost in the photo. The other card base is Sage Shadow.






These two are hot off the press, and were made with SU!'s Loads of Love set and patterned paper from DCWV.






This freshly-made card is one of my favorites. Stamps are from Stampin' Up! Trees are from Lovely as a Tree, and I've momentarily lost track of where the "Thinking of You" came from. Colors are current "In Colors" Blue Bayou and Soft Sky, and the trees and words are embossed in detail gold.






I really love the old fart in these next two -- isn't he fun? The patterned paper arrived in the mail today with some stamps sent in a roundabout way from my friend Fonda, and was just what I was looking for. Base of cards are Soft Sky and Close to Cocoa.






This next card has been floating around since last Spring. Card base is Very Vanilla, ink is Chocolate Chip, and patterned paper is from SU!'s retired Au Chocolat designer paper series. I added a bit of coordinating brown grosgrain to jazz it up a bit.






I'm heading to bed now so I can be fresh for tomorrow since I have a lunch date with Fonda's mom. Olive Garden, hooray! I'm hoping I'll be up and functional in time to make two more cards so I can give her an even dozen, but we'll see what happens.

Sing with Me!

To the tune of "Let it Snow" ... ready? Sing with me now!



Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the inks look so delightful

So while the winter is cold and damp

Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!



It doesn't take much convincing

And I've brought a tool for crimping

Choose some paper, turn up the lamp

Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!



When we carefully press just right

How we smile as the image unfolds

Add some color, so bold, so bright

The result is a sight to behold!



Our projects are quickly drying

And there's new techniques for trying

So until we get finger cramps

Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

November's Ugly Card

Well, folks, I was due... it's been a while since I've made an ugly card. I had a stamped image of the SU!'s Calendar grid sitting on my table, and I thought, "Hmmm, what if I brayer this with River Rock ink?" Having done that, I was stumped with what to do next. I finally opted for Basic Black images from the Priceless set, which in itself was not a bad choice. Unfortunately, I got carried away with the little flower and the card got too busy. And then I thought, "Stickles! Stickles fix everything!" I added some black grosgrain and mounted the monstrosity on some Wild Wasabi. Without further ado, I present to you... November's Ugly Card!

Still More Time Well Spent

These are the remaining RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) using Time Well Spent that I will be sending out to folks in one of my Yahoo groups.



Top Photo: Purely Pomegranite, Groovy Guava, and Wild Wasabi; blender pen, white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals



Bottom Photo: Wild Wasabi and River Rock cardstock, "In Color" inks, ticket corner punch, gold eyelets, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

More Time Well Spent

Here are three more cards made with the Time Well Spent set.



Cardstock, Ink: Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White

Other: Designer Print Paper, White Gel Pen, Gold Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Grosgrain Ribbon, Paper Piercing Tool



Sorry for the glare on the white cardstock on the top card -- scanner being a pain.

Thankful Thoughts

After making 60 dog cards, I felt a few cat cards were in order. These are the thank-you cards that are going to the folks who mailed dog images to me to use.



Colors: Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst

Cat stamp by Zimprints

Flower backgrounds: SU!'s Bodacious jumbo wheel, Just Like You

Other: Stickles!

Time Well Spent

Stampin' Up! sent me a FREE set of stamps this week! The set is "Time Well Spent," and it's going to be a Level 3 hostess set in the new catalog that will be released on January 1st.



I also broke into the current "In Colors" (which I swore I could never love)... and you know what? I love 'em!! Card bases below are River Rock, Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou, and good ol' Purely Pomegranite. I also broke out the Stickles, some brads, and my paper piercing tool for these.



As ever, click on the pictures if you want a closer view.

Dog Cards for Debbie

These 60 cards are a present to my friend Debbie who volunteers for a dog rescue. Since I don't own any dog stamps myself, I had to call on stamping friends to help me out by stamping and mailing images to me or lending me their stamps. I used a wide variety of background stamps of all sizes, Stampin' Pastels and markers, punches, eyelets, brads, and Crystal Effects (to make some of the doggies' noses shiney and wet).