Our 14th Wedding Anniversary

This past Wednesday, Scott and I celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary.  This is the card I made for him.....

I found this beautiful quote on Pinterest a few months back on a vinyl wall art picture.  I thought the sentiment would be perfect for an Anniversary card.  

I can tell you the hardest part about making this card was creating the sentiment.  I couldn't find a download online with a digital stamp that had this quote.

To create the sentiment I used Times New Roman and Edwardian Script for the fonts.  Each line of the sentiment was created using text boxes so I could move the boxes and place the text exactly where I wanted it to go.  Then I grouped the text boxes to hold them together.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card today!

BOO!

Hello!  

The September Digi at Birdie Brown is so cute - I just had to play along.  I decided to use the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this sketch with the digi and came up with this.....  Aren't those little pumpkins adorable?

I made the little bat using a small heart punch for the wings and a 1/2 inch circle punch for the body.  For the wings I punched out a small heart and then punched the top of the heart again over the negative from the first heart.  Then I just added  booglie eyes.  I'm pretty happy with how he turned out.

You can find the challenges for Birdie Brown and CAS(E) this Sketch here:

Birdie Brown September Freebie Challenge
CAS(E) this Sketch #43

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card today!

First Birthday Lady Bug

Hello!  I have a quick little birthday card to share today. 

I downloaded this cute ladybug digital stamp from Bugaboo Stamps (linked below).  The image is colored using fine point sharpie markers.  I added some crystal effects to the spots.  The layout is super simple.  I typed up and printed a sentiment for the inside that says Happy 1st Birthday, Let's Celebrate!

I'm linking this up to the Dotty Challenge at Simon Says Stamp (notice my ladybug has dots, there are also dots on the yellow DP).  I'm also including it in the Splitcoast Stampers Free 4 All Primary Colors Challenge HERE.

Supplies:
Paper:  Basic Black, Daffodil Delight Polka Dot Parade (SU), PTI White
Ink: Sharpie Fine Tip Permanent Markers
Stamps:  Lady Bug Butterfly - Bugaboo
Accessories:  Crystal Effects


 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card!

Julie

July Birdie Brown Challenge

Hello!  Today I have a couple cards that I made for the July Freebie Challenge at Birdie Brown.

For the first card I printed out the image and colored it myself (as opposed to coloring the image digitally as you will see in my second card).

The pool party background paper is embossed with the SU clouds embossing folder.  I masked the dolphin image and sponged some pool party ink around it.  This card is for my niece's birthday so I thought something cheerful would be appropriate.  Now I need to make an envelope for this 5x5 square card.

The second card is primarily digital:

For this card I made a mirror copy of the dolphin image (original image is on the left of the sentiment).  The image was manipulated using GIMP2.  The dolphins were also colored in gimp.  I'm pretty good at the bucket fill (LOL).  The colored images were then inserted into a word document, sized and printed on Naturals White CS.  I think the image manipulation of the digi stamp is pretty neat.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my cards today.  You can find the Birdie Brown July challenge HERE.

Cheers to YOU a CASE

When I started my new job in January I made sure to put all the birthdays for my co-workers on my calendar so I can  have a card for each of their birthdays.  This week one of my co-workers had a birthday and I needed a card.  So I procrastinated until the night before her birthday and then I had to make something quick.  I went through my card inspiration board on Pinterest and picked out a card to CASE.  From there it was easy.  So thanks to the inspiration of Laurie Willison's card HERE I created this....

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card!

Digital Publication!!!

A few months ago I got an email from PaperCrafts Magazine to let me know they would be PUBLISHING one of my digital sentiments.  The publication is Birthday Creations Volume 3 and it's in stores now!  You can find the sentiment as a free download on the PC website HERE.

My sentiment is the Scrabble Tile Happy Birthday.  I made a couple cards with the sentiment to share today:

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my cards!  Please be sure to check out all the great digital sentiments on the PC website!

Freshly Made Father's Day Card

I'm playing along with this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  The sketch looked pretty simple so I thought I'd give it a go.  I was able to make this card in about 20 minutes.

I embossed the black base with the PTI Linen embossing folder to give it a subtle dimension.  The sentiment is a digital stamp that I created.  

You can find the Freshly Made Sketch challenge HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Father's Day card!


I'm sharing the sentiment for my blog readers.  Just right click on the image and save it to your computer. 

Get Well Card

I've been struggling to find time or inspiration for making cards lately.  I started my new job 4 months ago and I've had to focus so much on learning the job that when I get home I just can't think anymore.  I don't know if that even makes any sense.  The learning curve for this is huge.  My coworkers tell me it will take a least a year to really know what I'm doing.  I'm not a person that is used to having more questions than answers.  It's a bit out of my comfort zone to not know what I'm doing.  I'm just going along with it because while the learning curve is huge I really love this job.  It makes me think.  Every day I learn something new.  Four months into this things are finally starting to make sense.  I'm getting some of it.   

Okay so now that I've explained my lack of blog posts, I have a get well card to share with you.  I've spent quite a bit of time fussing with creating digital stamps.  I used my digital band aid stamp to make this get well card.  I punched out a heart and popped it up over the heart on my band aid.

I used Microsoft Word for the band aid and the sentiment.  The get well soon sentiment is typed in Will & Grace font that I downloaded HERE.

I really appreciate your stopping by to check out my get well card.  As a little thank you, I've included the digital band aid stamp for you to use below.  Just right click on the image and save it.  I'd love to know if you were able to use it. 

Thank You!

Paper, Scissors, Chevrons

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I've been working on a special tutorial for Splitcoast Stampers and it's finally LIVE.

The tutorial is for making chevrons using a paper trimmer, scoring tool (or trimmer with bone folder) and scissors.  A few months back I wanted to make a card with chevrons and I didn't have a die or embossing folder.  After a few hours and many failed attempts I figured out a way to use the tools I already had to create a chevron shape.  You can find my Splitcoast tutorial HERE - including a really cool video of me making the chevrons.  I was unable to get a hand double for this video - it's all me.

My chevron tutorial uses strips of paper that are 1 inch wide by 5 1/2 inches long.  For today's card, I took my original dimensions and reduced the width to 3/4 inch and the length to 4 1/4 inch.

FINALLY - here is the card I have to share today......

Supplies -
Stamps:  Hero Arts Everyday Sayings
Paper: Baja Breeze, Naturals White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Blossom Party Die, Dazzling Diamonds
  
This week's challenge at Cas-ual Fridays is to make a card using Chevrons and Flowers so I'm also including this card in the challenge.  You can find the challenge HERE.


The Youtube Video is here:

 

10 Minute Craft Dash #13

I've been so busy getting acclimated to my new job that my craft time has really suffered.  I decided the best way to get some crafting done was to play along in the 10 Minute Craft Dash. 

Here's the challenge:  It's  a color challenge.

I thought these colors would be good for a masculine birthday card. Here it is....

It's clean and simple without a lot of fuss and I got it finished in 8 minutes and 5 seconds.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card today!

Follow Your Dreams....

These past few weeks I've been wrapping things up at work because next week I'm starting a NEW JOB!!!  I got the offer right before Christmas so it's been in the works for almost a month now.  This new job is an amazing opportunity and I'm really really excited.  It will be a BIG change but I'm ready for it!

So today's card is for ME!  YEP, I made myself a card....

Supplies
Stamps:  None - Sentiment generated in MS Word 
Paper:  Basic Black, PTI White, Glittery White
Accessories:  Circle and Star Punches

Okay, I also made this card for the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge (to make a card that celebrates an accomplishment, and feature at least one circle).  I think this new job fits the accomplishment theme perfectly and you can see I have included 4 circles.

So, here's to me Following My Dreams.....CHEERS!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card!  You can find the CAS-ual Fridays challenge here:

CFC85

 

2012 Year in Review

Happy New Year!

In January 2012 I took the CAS card class and really focused on making cards that were much more clean and simple.  I have really had to focus on balance and design more than ever in my attempt to grow as a cardmaker with a CAS focus.  It's been so much fun following blogs and becoming friends with some very talented card makers this year.  I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring. 

Here are my 10 favorite cards from 2012 in no particular order.

  

I have one more card to share with you from 2012.  Interestingly this last card is my most pinned card on Pinterest and it really isn't even one of my ten favorites but apparently there are a lot of people that really like it.

 

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season!  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my favorite cards from 2012.