November/December

I finished the year-long card series for 2013 for my grandmother-in-law just in time!  Not that I couldn't have actually waited until next year to complete it, but I wanted to finish before baby girl arrives.  So here are the cards for November and December 2013:

The pumpkin is done in watercolor crayons.  I don't have an individual pumpkin stamp, just one that's part of a montage of fall items.  It just wasn't going to work for this concept.

And to conclude the year...a December angel.  This is one of my new stamps and I absolutely love the way it cascades into snowflakes at the bottom!  Add a scrap of red to frame her and it's done!

Random Cards

Yesterday was my due date, but still no baby.  People didn't believe me when I said there was no way she would be on time!  I'm treating myself to a pedicure this afternoon though, and maybe the massage around the ankles will trigger something.  Hahaha. 

On to the cards...most of these are from the scraps in my scrap drawer.  Which is still on the verge of overflowing.  It's amazing considering that I've made 20 plus cards from scraps alone. 

New Craft Toys!

I went to the craft store this morning to pick up a few things...and there was a sale!  Yay!  I picked up a few more things than originally intended, but I rarely shop so it's all okay.  It will keep me busy for the next few days until baby arrives (and it looks like she is going to be late).

 This didn't use any new stamps/toys.  Just one I made because I saw this color scheme on Pinterest and thought "Hey, that would make an awesome card!"  The leaf and sentiment are SU stamps.  All colors are SU inks - So Saffron, Summer Sun, More Mustard, and Ruby Red.

 This one does use a couple new toys.  :)  Hard to believe that, before today, I didn't own a butterfly stamp.  My mom was always nice enough to loan me hers, but I really needed to invest in one.  Well, this is from a set of five.  Variety is good.  The alphabet stamp is also new.  Love the clear mount stamps - so much easier to line up than the ones on wood.  I also invested in a new cutting system.  This one does circles, ovals, squares, and a couple different edges (in this case the scallop edge around the butterfly).  The background is the result of me just running the inkpad up and down my card.  I wanted a gray background, but evidently gray isn't all that in style at the moment and I couldn't find gray card stock that I liked!

 Card three uses two new stamps from the Martha Stewart stamp around the page set that I bought.  The concept is that you can make borders easily, but I think it works out this way too.  :)  The color scheme is from yet another pinterest post - yellow, white, and gray was super cute.  The ferns and butterflies came from two different sets.  The yellow paper is actually white, smeared with SU Summer Sun to match the butterflies.  The "gray" paper was the result of me setting paper on the ink and pressing it down with my fingers.  It came out really well!

This is the final card of the day (for now).  I have always wanted to do something with the scalloped layers, but not having a border punch or edge made it difficult.  For this, I took four shades of blue and went to town with a large scalloped edger, and then layered from lightest to darkest.  The boat is SU Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and Creamy Caramel inks smeared across the paper.  I used a craft marker to make definitive "boards" for the boat and then cut the shape.  The fishing rod, line, and hook are hand-drawn directly onto the card.  Since the card is about fishing, I put a little red fish in the pond for the fisherman.  (He is napping in the boat, that's why you don't see him.  Yeah.) 

October and Others...

October

Halloween - possibly one of my favorite holidays!  I love the dressing up and being something other than yourself for a night.  I am not so into the gory/gross stuff that tends to come along with it now.

This is a very simple card (as are most of the cards I make), just a cauldron of some green goo bubbling up.  Reminds me of Shakespeare's Macbeth.  Everything was cut freehand.  The goo is two separate pieces of green paper - the bottom part is actually a scrap from cutting the shape of the top part of the goo!









And now miscellaneous cards...all of which will be going to the Operation Write Home box.  Their no glitter rule kills me (oh, how I love glitter!), but it is for the protection of the soldiers and I completely understand!

First up, a Christmas card.  Santa's belly to be exact.  I used black ribbon and a piece from the SU hodgepodge hardware set to make the belt.  The fluff at the bottom is a bit of cotton ball.

Next up, You're So Sweet.  The background is from the Sweet stack by DCVW.  Every other page is glittered and I decided that I would make a card with every non-glittered page for the OWH box.  I bordered it with a baby blue and printed the sentiment with my printer, added a couple brads, and used dimensionals to make it pop.  Everything is outlined in brown - either SU close to cocoa or chocolate chip.

And from that same piece of paper, a second card.  I like the concept of bubbles, so I picked up my trusty circle cutter and had at it.  The green, brown, and pink papers are scraps that were sitting in my scrap drawer.  They picked up colors from the circle nicely.  I edged each with a slightly darker ink for contrast.  The white background was too boring, so I used a bit of blue and  sponged until I was happy.  :)

August

August

The August card is simple red and black.  Now, I don't edit my photos.  I just take them with my iPhone and upload as is.  Basically, if I don't like it I take another.   I point this out because  the red in the picture is MUCH brighter than what is actually on the card.  Oh well.

I liked the "tag" concept and made my own - cut rectangles, and the use a corner rounder for the top.  My crop-a-dile punched the perfect holes to attach my string.  The string is glued down to the card; it doesn't really go anywhere.  Little tiny bling stickers accented the sentiment "Think of You" and the date.

September

This was inspired by a pin on Pinterest.  I liked the color scheme and swirls. 

For the card center, I traced an ink box and cut the shape out.  A plain rectangle was just too boring.  The stamp on the center and the border is from the Stampin' Up!  baroque motifs set...possibly my favorite stamp ever.  I hand cut the petals for the flower, drew the stem, attached and accented with a little bling.  There you go, a card for September!

Random Cards

These are just a couple of random cards that I have made in the past 24 hours.  I decided to focus on the color red, just because I could.  They will go in the Operation Write Home box for soldiers deployed overseas.

This is a simple thank you card.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!  Add a little ribbon and an accent flower and you are done.

I thought the snail idea was really cute.  You can't tell from the photo, but his shell actually has a very pretty pattern.  It's stamped slightly darker than the background.  I promise it looks good in person.  You'll just have to believe me.  The snail's body was cut free-handed.

This is my elegant card for the day.  The red and white papers have a slight shimmer to them.  The stamp is from Michael's, I just stamped it from a couple different angles.

June/July

June

This card used a piece of paper that I have had for over fifteen years!  It came with the first set of scrapbooking "stuff" that I bought as a teenager.  I've always loved the simple flowers in it.  The sentiment is a sticker from TLC on a piece of tan paper that I inked with olive green.






July

I just love the vibrant colors in this paper.  It reminded me of the beach towels from my childhood.  I hand cut the umbrella and sand, and then pieced it together.  Super simple!

April/May

Remember that saying from elementary school?  "April showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring?"  The first time it would stump your friends, but then it spread like wildfire - Mayflowers bring pilgrims!  That little saying was the inspiration for my April card.  I've never had a pair of rain boots, but I do remember having the cutest yellow and white checkered raincoat in elementary school.

April

All items were hand-cut and decorated.  I thought the hearts would be much cuter than just circles for the buttons.  The background was lightly/randomly brushed with a darker blue ink for a little contrast.  Mount it all together and you have the card for April!














May is the busiest time of year for me (well, maybe it's tied with late August).  It's the end of school and everything has to be wrapped up - this involves at least one evening concerts and two competitions in addition to the "normal" school stuff like grades, discipline, uniforms, and inventory.  That being said, I try to keep vibrant colors around me in May to keep me going.  I found the green paisley-patterned background piece in my scrap drawer and just loved it.  Then I thought bright pink and yellows would compliment it perfectly.  And according to my elementary school saying above, May means flowers!

May

I'm not gonna lie here, the flowers are glittery stickers that I inherited somewhere along the way.  I knew my green background scrap wasn't big enough, so I supplemented with the yellow.  Stickers added, card complete.  :)

March

The March card is probably my favorite so far.  I just love the lemon/lime color scheme.  It was super simple to make, too!  The lettering is done by hand, so it's not perfect, but that's what makes it unique.  The buttons are just buttons that came with a random set of something.  I've had them for years and finally put them to use.  :)

January/February

I know, I know!  It's July.  Which means hot and hotter weather, vacation, and (for me anyway) baby time.  However I did start working on next year's collection of monthly cards for my grandmother-in-law.  I have a few rules this time around though. 

1. Each card must have the month somewhere on it.  This is for my own sanity.  I've added "2013" to most of the cards just because I feel like it.  When hubby asked if I had sent a card at the beginning of the month, I would answer yes and then second guess myself.  Did I send a card?  Was it the "right" card?  Obviously it was easy to tell if it was holiday themed...

2. Cards fronts must be made of scrap paper only.  My scrap drawer is filled to the brim.  Seriously.  I must have liked the paper in there before, so surely I can use it again.  Embellishments, inks, stamps, whatever can go on top, but the paper MUST be from my scrap drawer.

3.  Take a picture as soon as I am done with it!  Because otherwise I will forget.  This means that these pictures are coming from my phone because my :"real" camera is packed in my suitcase ready to take the first pictures of the baby.  I am NOT going to risk getting to the hospital without the camera because I wanted good card pictures!



January

Yup, even the white paper is from the scrap drawer.  Navy blue background, white background, champagne paper.  The glass in the bottom right was outlined/colored with white ink.  I wrote 2013 to make it look like one of those souvenir glasses from the party stores.  I also made it glittery, but it's really hard to tell in the picture.

February

Ahh, Valentine's Day.  The papers are actually left over from a baby shower card I made towards the end of last school year.  I stamped the hearts in a slightly darker pink, cut them out, and added a little bit of glitter glue.  The pink strips at the bottom are three separate strips that I edged with the pink ink.  Took my corner rounder to the background paper, and the wavy blade on my cutterpede to the bottom bit of brown.  After that it was a matter of layering everything together.  (The month is in the bottom left corner, but it is extremely hard to see!)







More to come later...it may be sporadic because baby is due any time now!

A Year of Cards

Last Christmas I decided to make a card a month for my husband's grandmother.  She actually collects the cards I make, which I still find amazing!  I didn't really take pictures of the cards for this year as I went...it was a little busy/tiring year.  So here is the rest of the year that I haven't sent off just yet.  :)

August - Pieced together tulips

September - She was a school teacher :)

October - Little Mummy

November - Watercolors

December - Simple snow and moon

I've already started on next year's set - between new baby any day now and a graduate research class I just don't see much time for card making.  There will be some just to keep my sanity, but I'm not doing much else these days and had the inspiration to get started!