Crafty commissions

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my bosses needs a birthday card and Valentine's card for his wife, so here are a couple of little things I cooked up. I think they are cute, and hopefully they aren't too "simple". Although in some cases "simple" is a much better way to go, I still haven't determined when to say when - I imagine it will come to me as I make more cards and get better. It was fun making these cards, and I will probably make a few more to see if anyone else wants to get in the Valentine's spirit.

For this card I used:
Card Stock - Kraft, Candy Lane DSP, Red Riding Hood and White
Stamps - SU! Love You Much, SU! Short & Sweet

For this card I used:
Card Stock - Baja Breeze (base), Prints Pack DSP (retired, SU!), Indulgent DSP (retired, Sassafras) and White
Stamp - SU! For a Friend

Back in the swing of things

I've been absent from my stampin' fun for entirely too long! I lost my mojo for just a bit, due to a series of life changing events, but I am happy to say I am in a really great place right now, thanks to the support of my family and friends. I'm super grateful.

I have a new job, and even though I work later than I am used to, I've been in a much happier mood. So with that, I have a card I worked very hard on for a swap. It was a Twilight themed swap. I finished the first book, am on the second and still have not seen the movie - ACK!

With that, I have pictures, although...not to pat myself on the back too hard, but the pictures don't really do the card justice I think. I was very happy with the way they turned out!

Here is the front of the card


I tried a different fold this time, still a standard sized card though. The front seal I made took 4 layers of UTEE and one of red glitter embossing powder. I really wish my camera could really capture the color and texture, it was really pretty. I tried to get a close-up but you still can't tell too much.


Here is the inside of the card - lots of work, but so worth it. I used a brayer technique I learned from Kim from Stamp-a-rama who learned it from Michelle Zindorf. I took a piece of glossy photopaper, punched out a circle and temporarily affixed it to the paper, then using a brayer I rolled Baja Breeze ink all over the paper, then I used Pacific Point around the edges with the brayer. Then with a sponge, I used Basic Gray. Then when you take off the circle piece of paper, you have a bright white moon. Then using StazOn ink in Jet Black I used the tree stamp for a cool silhouette effect. I wanted to give this a really dark and romantic feel, so I used the cursive background stamp.

Here is a close-up so you can see the quote I chose for the card. I think it's very fitting.


I am super excited to see what kinds of swaps I will receive, and I hope that whoever gets mine really enjoys it.

On a side note, I should also mention that my stamping room that I complained about earlier, is fully functional and AWESOME!  I couldn't be more ecstatic that I have my own working space now.

More to come, I'm working on some Valentine's Day cards. I got some great gifts over the holidays that I've been itching to use, among them the SU! Valentine's Bundle. (You've seen the heart punch in action already!)

I used:
Card Stock - Black (base), Riding Hood Red, White and Glossy paper
Stamps - SU! En Francais, SU! Nature Silhouettes

Ranch-ish themed birthday cards

My friend Cody asked me to make birthday cards for his parents. This was fun, because it required me to find and use some stamps that I normally would not use. His dad likes outdoorsy things, but not camping or fishing which are the "manliest" stamps I own. Luckily, Kim from Stamp-a-rama was kind enough to let me use her stamp set to make this little number. I actually like how it turned out, and now that I have used the set, I certainly appreciate it more. The images I stamped in the background could work so nicely for so many things! The ribbon is from the latest Stampin' Up mini catalog, and coordinates very nicely with the new Riding Hood Red In Color paper.


I used:
Card stock - Riding Hood Red (base), Chocolate Chip and White
Stamps - SU! Wanted, SU! Bitty Birthday

For his mom's card, she likes chickens alot, which is one of the only barnyard animals I don't have stamps of. I did find this really cute one of a chicken and some sheep on ChristianBook.com. I colored in the image using Stampin' Pastels and blender pens, and mounted pieces on top of a paper I ran through the Cuttlebug.


I generally don't do anything for the inside of the card since I usually have a whole story to write, so it just gets in the way if I stamp anything on the inside. But this time I decided I would, and I found a great little add on. I found a booklet at Jo-Ann's Fabrics in the scrap book section and it had different little sentiments on vellum. I picked up ones for birthdays, thank you's and love/wedding. So I mounted that on a piece of DSP and attached it with silver brads.

I used:
Card stock - Opulent Orchid (base), Pixie Pink, So Saffron, Prints Pack DSP (retired) and White
Stamps - Sheep and Chicken (Christian Book)