Beary Embossing!

I just loved this stamp I found at Hobby Lobby at 50% off! I don't know if I have mentioned before my Prismacolor markers that I love! I had no idea I would be able to shade these stamps so well! :)  In the top photo you cannot really see the embossed effects since I chose to not use my flash.

The photo below you get a better idea of the effect of the embossing powder. So awesome! The cards just come to life!

Embossing Powder Discovery!

My family went all out on Mother's Day as I have mentioned before. I received everything I think I need for card making. My husband really enjoys trying to make me happy. He knows the quote holds true, "Happy wife, Happy Life!"  One of the things he wanted me to try was the embossing. I had mentioned the Cuttlebug machine to him numerous occasions but somehow it was overlooked. That's okay I won't hold it against him. :)

This Thank You card was made for my son's girlfriend. She was so sweet to give me a Mother's Day gift and I wanted to do something for her in return. I embossed the stamped rose from Inkadinkado Doodle Flowers, the Thank you greeting as well as the flower pattern onto the purple card stock.

My Daughter Monkeys Around

I was so pleased with how my daughter's card turned out. She's a natural! I spend hours and hours researching cards for inspiration. My daughter grabs up the ribbon, scissors and stamps and whips a card up in no time! I told her how much I loved it and it would be a great card for the Anysoldier.com card swap and she was not impressed that I was not intending on keeping her work of art. Uh oh I'm in the hot seat! I let her know we have so many more cards to make together!

Bunny Hugs Wood Mounted Stamp

I just loved how this card turned out! I don't know a lot about this stamping onto cards stuff. I dab the stamp in ink and stamp it onto paper. Who knew it would have so many more things to it than that! My husband wanted to play with the embossing stuff and he suggested I emboss over my stamped images just to try it out. I am always afraid to try something I haven't researched. But he did it and it looked so much better to me! I have been embossing everything after that!

Birthday Card Challenge - Due May 13th

Okay so I found a birthday card challenge on Stamp Something blog. It was just in time for a friends birthday. So I thought I would make the card in a shade of violet her favorite color. I wanted to try all my new embossing stuff I received for Mother's Day. I whipped the card up and debated for days if I needed to add more to it.

Finished 40 - 4th of July cards!

My first set of 20 -4th of July cards for the Anysoldier.com card swap. I thought I wouldn't have time to hand make my own cards  so I started by printing 20 cards from MSWorks program. After finishing these cards and 20 letter inserts I realized I could take on another set of handmade cards.

Here they are!

My first Pop-Up cards! I just love how they turned out! Thanks again to Cricut Critters for this wonderful idea!

I discovered Inkadinkado stamps!

It all started one morning while I was searching the internet for some 4th of July card inspiration. I have noticed how some handmade cards have stamped colored images and it seems to be a big thing among card makers. I admit I thought it looked a little more professional than just using cut papers and forming them into a layout. So I took a trip to my local arts & crafts store which is Hobby Lobby. I bought my first set of Inkadinkado Toadily Happy set of frog stamps. I played with a few stamps but something made me want more stamps. I took another trip to Hobby Lobby and bought another set of stamps. Before I new it i was searching Ebay. Yes Ebay. I know I am in trouble now. I won my first two sets of Inkadinkado stamps. I am waiting on their arrival to my doorstep. Projects will be posted as they are finished.

Clear Stamps Greetings

Not much to this card, I know. I was trying to make it resemble a present. Inside it is stamped with Thank You. I am sending this as a little insert of thanks for the Hostess of the July 4th Anysoldier.com card swap. The roses are my mother's rose bushes after she passed away of colon cancer I transplanted 3 bushes into my yard. So far only two bushes have survived.

Discovery Stamping

I have been researching like crazy! Looking over card  after card over the internet. I scored the mother load of stamps on Ebay. I thought I was really getting a great deal until I received them that's when i realized I could have spent the money on stamps I picked out for myself instead of a LOT of 22 packages of stamps of various types that I may not ever use. Oh well lesson learned I hope. I was in a shopping trance. Some ladies are like that with shoes. I am like that with Peanuts collectibles and now stamps. It is a fun project. I finally found a craft project my daughter will actually get involved in. She loves coloring the stamped images. I tend to make sets of 20 cards at a time for the Anysoldier.com card swaps. It is hard to keep her interested in coloring 10 of the same image. But some how she was finished with her set before I was finished with mine. She checked out a few more stamps and colored them. Fine with me, I will use the images in future cards! 


Did I finally find a hobby for my soon to be 16 year old?

Cricut Stand and Salute Cartridge

I would like to thank  Cricut Critters for the inspiration on how to put this cartridge to work. I loved this popup card idea! I am currently trying to duplicate this card 19 more times to share with my Anysoldier.com card swap group!

20 "Toadily Happy" Frog Cricut Cards Finished!

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SVG Cuts 

I finished 20 cards for the Anysoldier.com Summer Card Swap. I just love how they turned out!

"Toadily Happy" Frog Cricut Card

I made 20 cards  for the anysoldier.com Summer card swap. This card was so fun to create! I used inkscape to trace bitmap images of cattails, the lily and the lily pad and then opened them into SCAL or Sure Cuts A Lot program then for the frog I used someone elses's frog svg file I downloaded for free from the internet somewhere. I used Wedding Cricut cartridge for the tag and Penny Black Toadily stamps collection for the flies and the words toadily happy. I decided I didn't like the cattails in the end and I also glued jiggly eyes on the finished card.

Cricut Easter cartridge

I picked up the idea for these cards from someone else. I made these for Anysoldier.com Spring/Easter Card swap.

Here are the cards I received from the swap:

 

Cricut Tags, Bags.. & Wedding Cartridge

I made this card for a friend. She hasn't received it yet so I hope she likes it!

Cricut Wedding Carttridge

I copied this idea from a card at the cricut web site. I love how it turned out! I sent one like this to a couple who recently were married; as well as one to another couple for an Anniversary card!

Cricut Joys of the Season & Christmas Cheer Cartridge

Cricut made Valentines for the Soldiers!

 I joined my 2nd card swap at Anysoldier.com! This time it was the Valentines Swap. I really had no idea at first what I was going to put together. After doing a lot of research over the internet and getting some ideas the cards above are what I came up with. I was really having a lot of fun making valentines. I made my cards blank inside so that the soldiers can use the cards to write letters home to tell the ones they love & miss a Happy Valentines Day. The photo and miniature letter in the middle are what I inserted in each of my blank cards.

Cricut Joys of the Season Cartridge

The first projects & cards I made from my Cricut Create machine. I chose to create 20 of these Polar Bear snow globe cards to send to the ladies of the Anysoldier.com Christmas card swap, the Sympathy card was sent with a quilt square I made for one of Anysoldier's Quilting Bee Quilts. The rest of the cards were sent to friends and family!

Below are the pictures I received in return for the 2009 Christmas Card Swap.

Here is a card I received for giving support to the soldiers!

Thank You Card with Cricut Machine

We  received a surprise Christmas gift package in the mail from a family member we hadn't heard from in many years. In appreciation for their thoughtfulness during the holidays I made them a card with a Christmas themed Thank You and Cricut Storybook  & Home Accents Cartridge

My first day at blogging!

I downloaded the trial version of SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) last night to be able to have limitless access to shapes, fonts and stuff. Unfortunately, I did not know that it would place cuts through everything till I purchase the full version. I plan on purchasing SCAL in the future, oh the money I can save on cartridges!

I received my first Cricut Create machine this past October after my husband seen the infomercial on TV. My husband thought I would be able to do graphics for his truck with the Create. Ha Ha! I didn't research the product. But I new I could use help with making some hand made cards to send for a card swap I joined on anysoldier.com's web site. The Cricut machine looked perfect for me! By Christmas my husband discovered a deal on the Expression and the deal is that I have to design and cut some vinyl graphics for his truck since his business is buying the machine.


But of course I agreed to the deal! The create is rather small and extremely to small for vinyl lettering. So now I have the little Create and the Expression. Why both? Sometimes you just want something small and why get out the expression when you can use the Create. I don't know we'll see if I still use both or not.