Happy Halloween

This card was inspired by Dawn. For some reason her card seems to fit a lot more than mine does. Anyways, I really like these ghosts, made from the owl punch from Stampin' Up.
To create a little more interest, I used, again, the Big Shot for some embossing. Again, I don't have any Halloween stamps, so a hand-written one would have to work.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Spooky!

I don't really do Halloween. But when I saw this card from Julie's Stamping Station, I couldn't resist. It's just so cute. I made this card at 4 1/4 x 4 1/4.
I sponged the moon and the owl's shirt. I used a background stamp on the Concord Crush cs. I embossed the piece of orange cs, and used the back side for a debossed look. I don't have any Halloween stamps, so I handwrote the "Spooky...".

MIA

Sorry for not having new posts. I was gone on vacation, came back with sick child, then the other child got sick, then I got sick, then I never got better, then I passed what I had the second time (I still have it) back to the kids. Everyone's miserable. Have dealt with zero naps, vomit, cough, snot, tantrums, etc.

I've got some stuff to share, I just don't have the energy to write it on the blog. I will be back next week!

Thans for your patience and coming to see me!

Birthday Shutter

I had missed a dear friend's birthday while away on vacation. I had meant to make her a very special card before I left, then I forgot. She and her daughter are the ones who got me started stamping 10 years ago. I wracked my brain trying to figure out what I can make that would be interesting for her. I started out trying to make a different card, but I messed it up, wasting some cardstock and pattern paper. Then I finally decided to do this tri-shutter card again.

The basic layout was inspired by Janice Webb.
Most instructions online are for 12x12 cardstock. I wanted to use 8 1/2 x11. I had originally made a template, but I probably screwed up on the dimensions, thus I wasted 2 more pieces of cardstock. I finally re-calculated the measurements and realized my mistake.

If you want to use 8 1/2 x11, cut a piece of 5 1/2 x 10 1/2. Score the long side at 1 3/4, 3 1/2, 7, 8 3/4.

I cut out couple of the flowers from this pattern paper. I used both sides of this double-sided pattern paper. I also used the Big Shot to do a little embossing. Used the owl punch and sponged the edges. Oh, and a flower brad and flower dies through the Big Shot.

I really do love to make this kind of cards, since they're so easy to make. But decorating it always takes me a few days. I have to cut all the stuff I want to use, lay them out, and see about changing, adding, deleting, etc. I'm just glad I got a big smile from her when she saw it.

Thank You Prayers

I don't usually like to apologize on my own blog, but I really do apologize for the poor quality picture here. I made this at night and wanted to send it off first thing in the morning. Plus, I knew I couldn't get better natural light the next day because we were having huge storms. So, had to take this using lights.

I made this card as a quick thank you to an online seller who gave me a great deal on cardstock and ink. I also needed to send her a check. Thus the size of this card. It's just a little bigger than the check.
Since I was mailing this, I had told myself to remember not to do dimensionals. Well, I totally forgot about it when I was putting the card together. It just didn't look right without the 3 panels being popped up a little. I didn't realize what I did until I went to insert this in the envelope. See, you have to pay an extra $0.20 postage for uneven surface, otherwise they might return this to the sender. I didn't want to risk the check not reaching the seller quickly, so I stuck the extra postage on it. Hope it gets there!

Owl!

Today's card is completely CASE'd from Kari Linder. When I saw her card, I just fell in love with it. My only problem was I didn't have the Owl Punch yet, and I didn't have the specific paper nor the colored cardstock. I managed to put the card together with what I have (yep, the same pattern paper you saw on Monday. Gotta use up that 12x12 piece of paper!), minus the owl. Then put all the papers into a ziplock bag. I patiently waited for the workshop where I knew the Demo would bring the owl punch. Then I forgot to use it for my card! Put in my order, including the owl. Went away to vacation for a week. Came home with sick kids and sick myself, so couldn't play. Finally felt better over the weekend, and got my brand new owl punch out to play. So fun!!! This card took a total of probably 3-4 weeks for completion. Must be a personal record!
Guess this is a busy enough card without having a sentiment. Plus, I don't know where to put a sentiment! Just realized that Kari put hers on the inside. I will have to go back and do that.

Masculine Birthdays

Both my husband and my father's birthdays are on the same day in late September. I set out to make some masculine birthday cards. I picked the pattern paper, figuring it's pretty masculine. Then, I really like using this embossing folder for the Big Shot. Wanting to create the cards kind of all different, here's what I came up with. All by myself. No plagiarism today!
This next one I used a technique I saw on a few people's blogs awhile ago. I don't know what it's called. You cut up strips of the striped paper, then re-line them up staggered. I did figured out that I needed to have at least temporary tape on a piece of paper for these strips to adhere to. Then cut to desired size.

I gave the second card above to my dad. I don't think he understands my obsession. So he left the card at my house after having cake. I decided to repurpose the card. I took the main portion of the card (since the base was written on, and had some cake frosting on it!) and put it on another piece of cardstock. Then put the whole thing on white.
Sure hope the next person I give this to, gives the card a little more care. :)

Stamp Where?

Saw this post the other day and was just wowed by it. I posted a comment on Mike's blog about him being gutsy stamping on pattern paper. He sent me an email back saying it's just paper. What a concept! Haha. The whole time I was stamping on the pattern paper, I kept repeating to myself, "it's just paper, it's just paper."
In case you haven't caught on.... I LOVE using embossing folders through the Big Shot. It gives plain paper so much more interest. I did it again on the background paper.

Here's another version:

Workshop Pt2

For the second part of the workshop, we got to use the Milk Carton die for the Big Shot. How fun was that! I have to admit, the carton is much smaller than I expected. I expected it to be double its actual size. Anyways, this thing cuts and scores. Very cool.
Isn't this little ghost so cute? It's made from the Owl punch. Turn the owl upside down and cut off its feet, and voila, a ghost! Check out more creative uses of the owl punch here.
Again, we loved this little own punch so much that most of us ordered him!

Workshop Pt1

I held a workshop at my house the other day. This was a super easy card to make. We got to use Delightful Decorations set and the ornament punch. That was really fun! I have never actually used a stamp set that completely coordinates with a punch, so that was a brand new experience. I think we were all so impressed that each one of us go the set and the punch on our orders!
I can't wait to get my order so I can make the holiday card I have in my mind. Should be super easy, yet fab looking (I hope!)!

Sweet Aviary

Got today's card's idea from the winner of Sweet Sunday Sketch. I changed the colors, pattern paper and ribbon. I used the Big Shot to emboss the Chocolate Chip cardstock for interest.
The sentiment is from Picture This. Isn't this card sweet? :)