Cards for International Students

I've been working on these cards for a few days. I saw Jen del Muro's (i{heart}2stamp) call for cards for the international students at Dallas Baptist University. The deadline is tonight, so I better post the pictures of what I mailed today. One lucky person will win a huge "blog tart".

Gracias Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Blue Bayou
Ink: none
Tools: Cuttlebug Thank You Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Big Shot, Fiskars Corner Rounder
Other: stripped ribbon (American Crafts), star brad (SU!), foam tape
Gracias Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: Kraft, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: none
Tools: Cuttlebug Thank You Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Big Shot, Fiskars Corner Rounder
Other: stripped ribbon (Costco), star brad (SU!), foam tape

Happy Birthday Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: Green Galore, Basic Black, Baja Breeze, Rose Red
Ink: none
Tools: Cuttlebug Happy Birthday Embossing Folder (Provo Craft), Big Shot, Scallop Edge Punch
Other: foam tape, rhinestone flowers (Kaiser), rhinestones (Michael's)


Feliz Cumpleanos Card Ingredients
Stamps: Felicidades Siempre, Tarjetas con Bordes Festoneados
Paper: Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, & Haiku DSP (SU!), white (JudiKins)
Ink: VersaMark, Tangerine Tango
Tools: Scallop Edge Punch, Fiskars Corner Rounder, piercing tool & template
Other: foam tape, Felt Fusion, brad (Making Memories), white embossing powder

There's No Place Like Home

This week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #16 card came together thanks to the blog candy from Jane (Hi, Jane!) and Memories Live On. I got the Unity stamp I used on this card, Memento ink, buttons, Primas, and dew drops! Jane also gave me a little box with Hersheys Kisses and decorated the a stamp from Love You Much. My goodness! This is my first Unity stamp. I've never had Memento ink either...love it!

I met Jane yesterday at the store in Cupertino. She is so sweet and I loved the store! Kalino was with me, so he got to meet her two sons. Jane just got back from CHA. She went for Copic certification. Memories Live On is about 16 miles from my house, but I'm sure I'll be back. This is also the first time I've met someone from "blogland". Jane, I had my camera in my purse. I forgot to take a picture of us. Darn!

The movie this week was The Wizard of Oz. I've seen this movie dozens of times. The first card I started to make was inspired by the famous song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I didn't like my rainbow...it looked too juvenile, so I quit working on that card. I wanted to create a card with ruby red slippers, but I was running late on the challenge (my usual story). I instead thought...duh...you have the new Unity stamp! I printed the "There's no place like home" sentiment from my computer. I downloaded a cross-stitch type font. I could imagine Auntie Em having items that were cross-stitched in the house. I added a few buttons and I was done.

Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: Neighborhood of Simplicity (Unity)
Paper: kraft & basic black (SU!), white (JudiKins)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools: corner rounder
Other: buttons, black/white ribbon (Michael's), twine thread, foam tape, colored pencils (Crayola), Home Sweet Home font (webfontlist.com)

Follow Your Heart

Just a quick post...this is my first card for Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #2.

I used last week's colors from Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #39. I wasn't completely pleased with the card I produced last week, so this is my "do over".

I have more to tell you, but I'll do that tomorrow...time for bed.

Card Ingredients

Stamps: A Happy Heart

Paper: So Saffron, Real Red, Basic Black, Green Galore DSP from Rainbow Sherbert, glossy white

Ink: Real Red

Tools: 1/2" & 3/4" circle punches, scallop edge punch

Other: black/white ribbon (Michael's), rub on (SU! Eastern Elegance), foam tape

Happy Birthday - Kristina Challenge #39

Hi everyone! I'm glad it's Friday...I'm tired. My son was awake at 3:30 AM...he's afraid of the dark..even though he sleeps with several lights on. I didn't get restful sleep when I eventually brought him to our bed.

I'm running late with this card...always! Let's see if I make it this time and can post before the deadline. This is Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #39.

The colors this week are:
basic black, real red, so saffron, whisper white, and green galore

I liked the bold colors this week. I was going to try to make a Valentine's card, but I couldn't do it. I used the Big Shot to make my flower out of vinyl.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for looking.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: So Saffron, Rainbow Sherbert DSP (SU!)
Ink: none
Tools: Scallop Edge Punch, Crop-a-Dile, flower die (Provo Craft), Big Shot
Other: foam tape, white ric rac (BasicGrey), large brad (K&Company...thanks, Char!), Happy Birthday rub on (American Crafts), white gel pen (Sakura), red and green vinyl (I had to use it because it matched Green Galore. I've had this vinyl for several years. My friend Ericka gave it to me.)

You Make Me Happy

It's hard to photograph acetate cards! This is an acetate card for Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge (#38). The colors this week were: Ruby Red, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White.

I've barely put a dent in my supply of rub ons. I tried to use up quite a few on this card. I've had fun using my Big Shot over the last week (I bought mine from QVC on New Year's Eve). I've been die cutting everything in sight: cardstock, vinyl, felt, chipboard, and a plastic lid from some Trader Joe's cookies. My favorite item to die cut is vinyl. On this card I die cut some pink felt. Fun, fun, fun! Gotta run...my husband has a fish taco waiting for me downstairs.

Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: acetate (JudiKins), Pretty in Pink, SU designer paper from the following packs: Holiday Treasures, Ghostly Greetings, & Sweet Always)
Ink: None. Used the rub ons from the Love & Happiness SU pack
Tools: Word Window Punch, Oval Cutter (Coluzzle), Big Shot, Scribble Fower die (Provo Craft)
Other: pink felt (Michael's), rhinestones (Michael's), rhinestone brad (Making Memories), foam tape

Happy Birthday, Lord of the Rings Fan!

This card is for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #14. The movie this week was "Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring."

I never read the Lord of the Rings books in school. I thought they would be boring. My goodness, how wrong was I? I loved the movies. I've seen them several times. They are classic...as is the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien. What a creative mind! My inspiration for this card came from the "one ring to rule them all". I got a Big Shot over a week ago, and this is the first time I've used this embossing folder. I thought it was perfect for this card. I chose this BasicGrey paper because the color reminded me of the lush scenery in the movie.

Ever since I saw these movies, New Zealand is on the top of my list of places I want to visit. The landscapes in the movie are breath-taking!

Like Sankari, Brooke, and Carol, I wanted to use Tolkien-inspired fonts. I got these Tolkien fonts (Elfen Ring font & Kelt Extended font) from this site.

Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: Urban Prairie (BasicGrey), Gold Foil (Only the Best Los Gatos)
Ink: my printer
Other: foam tape, Spots & Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), ribbon (Costco)

Cards 4 Kids Challenge

Last week I saw a call for 1000 blank Valentine's Day cards (or postcards) from Pat Adam (The Rubber Maid) for her Cards 4 Kids program at the Children's Hospital of Michigan. I knew I would have time to send at least 1 card. Well, my friends, I've been awake since 4 AM! I had time to make 7 slightly different cards to send to Pat (I'm going to keep one for my Little Guy since he LOVES robots).

The weather during the night was a little strange. I woke up because the wind was so suddenly strong it rattled our interior bedroom door (like a minor earthquake would). Next, I heard a small crash outside. Today is trash day, so 2 out of 3 of our trash bins were on the curb. When I looked out, the wind had knocked over our recycling bin (64 gallons). Ugh! In my pajamas I went outside to lift the recycling bin before the wind started whipping all the paper, plastic, cans, out of the bin. I couldn't fall asleep after that excitement, so I stayed up and signed up for Pat's challenge.

I wanted to create non-feminine Valentines. This card's layout was inspired by a cute card Angie Tieman did last week. I took some Mr. Roboto paper (seen in the first picture in the following collage) from Cosmo Cricket and made it fit a Valentine's theme by punching small hearts from the reverse side of the designer paper and glued them on and around the robots. I added mini rhinestones for eyes and some screw brads to give a mechanical touch.

If you want to participate, you have to get Pat the cards by February 7th. Several bloggers (like, Jennifer Buck) are offering a chance of blog candy if you participate.

I'm off to the Post Office to mail these to Pat. Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: A Happy Heart (SU!)
Paper: Pre-cut textured cards & envelopes (Die Cuts With a View...I picked up on clearance at Michael's since they are Christmas colors), Mr. Roboto (Cosmo Cricket), Cogsmo Links (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Basic Black
Other: 2" circle punch (Fiskars), heart punch (McGill), foam tape, Making Memories brads, mini rhinestones (Michael's), screw brads (Michael's), paper piercing template & paper piercer

Life is Either a Daring Adventure or Nothing

I made this card for one of my favorite people...my friend, Violet. She's been on assignment in Iraq for over a month. She's a civilian working for the Federal Government. I'm sending her a box of her favorite snacks and I wanted to include a card.

The quote on this acetate is from Helen Keller and it says:
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Violet is a strong person. She's a mom who was widowed at a very young age. She worked and raised two daughters, while going to school. She got her Computer Science degree and moved up here to the Bay Area alone. That's when I met her. We became good friends right away. A few years ago, she moved to Las Vegas to work for the Army. Then she moved to Washington, D.C. to work. Going to Iraq for 4 months is definitely a daring adventure. I wish her a safe return.

The colors for this card come from Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge (#37). These colors are great together. I wanted to use all the felt fusion since they come in these colors, but my card looked overworked. I kept it simple.

Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: none
Paper: Baja Breeze (textured), Summer Picnic DSP, white (used behind the acetate quote)
Ink: none
Other: chocolate chipboard frame (American Crafts..blog candy from Char, thanks!), Helen Keller quote (Making Memories Clear Creations), foam tape, Baja Breeze grosgrain ribbon (thanks Theresa!), clear button, jute, oval cutter, mini rhinestones (Michael's)

Let's Save Our Money, Money, Money!

I'm always doing these challenges at the last minute. I'm not too excited about my creation this week for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. I created this a little too fast. The movie this week was "Mamma Mia!"

What a great movie! I didn't get to see it when it first came out. Thanks to my Sweetie for downloading it for me. I loved the scenery, the music, the story, and the actors. It takes place on a fictitious Greek island, but a lot of it was shot in Greece. I (along with one of my sisters)was lucky enough to take my parents to Greece and Turkey 9 years ago. One of my favorite places in the world is the island of Santorini. A lot of the shots in Mama Mia! reminded me of Santorini. I tripped and scraped my knee pretty badly while we were walking around on the island so I tell friends that I left my knee on Santorini. Ouch!

My inspiration for this week's card was Santorini and the ABBA song "Money, Money, Money". My Sweetie has loved the music of Yanni since his "Live at the Acropolis" CD came out. He's always wanted to go to Athens (even though Yanni lives in the US). I had some leftover Greek Drachma from my trip, so I decided to incorporate it into the card. My pictures from Santorini must be in the garage, since I couldn't find them. I printed the "Money, Money, Money" sentiment from my computer.

Card Ingredients

Stamps: Serendipity Letter & Numbers (Hero Arts), cracked background (Magenta)

Paper: Kraft (SU!), Windsor Knot & a tiny piece of Maine Blueberry DSP

Ink: Memories Black, Old Olive

Other: airplane rub on (BasicGrey), Glittery alphas (Making Memories), green ric rac (BasicGrey), word window punch

CASEing Julie Ebersole - FS100

I love Julie Ebersole's work! I enjoy reading her blog. I feel like I can hear her voice when I read her blog. She's so funny and she puts a smile on my face.

I've never done a Splitcoaststampers Challenge. Can you believe that? I was happy to see Julie as the Featured Stamper 100 (FS100). I had to do this challenge. There were so many cards to choose from. I decide to CASE this card. I changed the colors and the stamps, but I used her layout. I don't own a polka dot background stamp, so I hand-drew my polka dots with my white Sakura gel pen.

I made this card for my sister's upcoming birthday. Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients
Stamps: All Year Cheer 1 (I masked the Happy Easter stamp to get Happy), Birthday Whimsy (I masked off the Happy)
Paper: Pink Pirouette (SU!), like Julie I made my own ruled paper, except she was smarter because she actually copied actual notebook paper onto cardstock. I made by with JudiKins white cardstock. I drew lines with a soft grey colored pencil and I used a red pen to get the vertical line.
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Other: Threading Water Border Punch (Fiskars), Red Rhinestone (SU!), Cool Gray colored pencil (Crayola), red pen, white gel pen (Sakura), Felt Fusion (Queen & Co), Pumpkin Pie & Pink Pirouette felt flowers (SU!), foam tape

DoodleFactory Blog Candy

Hi Everyone,

I'm cleaning our bedroom at the moment. Not fun...so much dust. So many magazines, receipts, papers, ...oh, my goodness. I want to totally redo this room. I've had the same headboard for over 15 years. The mattresses are about 5 years old, but everything else needs to go.

To give myself a break, I'm checking out sites on my Google Reader. The Starving ArtiStamps blog is giving away some great blog candy. Go to the following link by January 6th.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Here's my card for Kristina's latest color inspiration challenge (#36).

The colors this week are:

I woke up to the new year barely able to speak. I had a fever on Monday and now I appear to have laryngitis. Our New Year's Eve was quiet. I made pizzas and we had some family over for dinner. I buy the already made pizza dough from Trader Joe's. I use fresh mozzarella and some parmesan cheese. We didn't have pepperoni, but I made four differently-topped pizzas, plain, bacon, ham, ham & bacon. My favorite pizza is margherita pizza (tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil). I don't like meat on my pizza. We played with our new Ninendo Wii. I love the Wii Fit and Wii Sports. You definitely get a workout playing.

The layout for this card was inspired by a card on the cover of latest Spanish SU! catalog.

Thanks for looking!

Card Ingredients

Stamps: A Happy Heart

Paper: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Georgia Peach designer paper (SU!), white paper (JudiKins)

Ink: Rose Red

Other: Word Window Punch (I couldn't find my stamp-a-ma-jig), mini rhinestones (Michael's), 3/4" circle punch, white clamp (blog candy from Theresa), pink ribbon