Happy Birthday, Dear Sister

I originally made my sister  this birthday card back in June. However, since I decided to send her the note card set I made during SAF, I wanted a card to match.(We normally don't exchange presents.) Since I wanted a card larger than the note cards, I began with the Mat Stack 5 as my card base, but ended up cutting the bottom portion after I finished. I used the same design from the note cards.

 
During SAF, I didn't make a container for them because I wasn't sure about the size of the original note cards since they are too small to be mailed. I thought about mounting them on a 4 by 5  layer of card stock.  After much thought I thought it would just be easier to slip the small envelope into a larger one if my sister really wanted to mail the note card. After a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy the small envelopes, I decided to package them the way Danielle did in her SAF post. This is a beautiful presentation, don't you think?

  I decided to layer the cards in two batches of 4 and lay them horizontally.


  An up-close shot of the details. I used a Copic pen to color the flower.

I need to wrap this up and send it in the mail today so my sister receives it by her birthday a week from today. Thanks for looking.

Star of Wonder

I made this card a couple of weeks ago when I had received my new Sunrise IP from PTI.. I paired it with the large Perfect Patches die using the techniques from  MIM # 13 (Impression Plate tricks #2) I love this technique.

  Since the base of the card is dark (Royal Velvet), I stamped the inside sentiment on Spring Rain.

Thanks for stopping by.

Snowflake circles

  Christmas in July! It is so hot in Cincinnati (and everywhere else) that I thought working on some snowflakes might make it seem cooler. You know, power of suggestion. hehe.

 The card was based on the retro sketch #18. I had so many ideas for this sketch but didn't have time to submit this one before the deadline. (The story of my life)

  

 Here's an up-close shot of the details.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Hope you can find a way to keep cool if you are experiencing the 90-100 degree weather that won't leave. I must say we didn't have a cold winter, but this summer has definitely been hotter than normal..

PTI Blog Hop: July

     Stamp-A- Faire, then PTI's Blog Hop. What more can a crafting girl want? Definitely my favorite time of the year. This month's blog hop is based upon an inspirational photo:

 

     I immediately knew I would use the rose image from my new stamp set, The Sweet Life. After experimenting with a few different color combinations for the rose, this is what I chose.

 The base is Summer Sunrise followed by Melon Berry and topped with Berry Sorbet.

  I kept the card clean & simple. I added some texture in the background using the Striped IP.

Thanks for stopping by. Looking forward to everyone's entries.

Stamp-A-faire: Embellishments

Happy Monday! Were you able to get sufficient crafting time this weekend? This is my last Stamp-A-Faire project for submission. Since I have limited pattern papers, my Beautiful Blossoms embellishments resulted in

      I used the new Fabulous Frames. Just love that die. It is going to be very versatile. I am glad I bought this one. I was debating between the Simple Chartreuse background or white. I wanted something bold, but now I am thinking the white might  have been a better choice.

 The banner sentiment is "Happy Birthday" from Peaceful Garden. Since I stamped it in the Winter Wisteria, you can't  see it in the photo.


An up-close shot of those Beautiful Blooms embellishments on the frame.

 Thank you for stopping by. Stamp-A-Faire gave me so many ideas that I am sure you will be seeing more on my blog. Right now I have to get back to making birthday party decorations as my granddaughters have parties in August and September.

Stamp-A-Faire : Card Camp Set

  Gosh there were so many pretty card sets to choose from in this challenge. I had a difficult time choosing between the one Danielle and Betsy made. Danielle's won out, but I will be making Betsy's set for sure.  This took a little bit longer than expected because after I cut out the half & half shape, the inside was not smooth due to the cuts in the cutting plate. So I decided to line the dies with Sweet Blush.

 I made a total of 8 cards; two each of  thank you, birthday, sympathy, thinking of you. I used sentimensts from a variety of stamp sets. My felt embellishments also included the small flower from  beautiful blooms. (which I accidentally left out when I took my photo.)

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  In some of the cards,Ialso stamped a sentiment on the inside.

My only concern is the size of these cards. I have to find envelopes. In addition, the envelopes might not be mailable due to size. So I am thinking I might cut a panel, emboss it and attach the mini card.. Until I make my final decision on the envelope, I will have to wait to make a holder for them.

Stamp-A-Faire Limited Supplies

  The challenge is to make a card using all or some of the following supplies:
    White, Hawaiian Shores,Aqua Mist. Simply Chartreuse Card stock and ink
   a floral stamp set (natural Beauties is featured)
   Simply Chartreuse button
   Hawaiian Shores Bitty dot ribbon

You can use any die. 


This is my card using the new Sweet Life Stamp set. Since I didn't have the required ribbon, I substituted the leafy vine border die.

   The rose was stamped in Aqua Mist for the base, with Hawaiian Shores as the middle layer and Simply Chartreuse on top.

 If you look closely at the leaves, you'll see I cheated and used Spring Moss ink for the base.

Stamp-A-Faire Freiendship Bracelet

 This is the bracelet I made for my 2 year old granddaughter during Stamp-a-Faire. I used the paper in the background to make the beads.

Stamp-a-Faire Ribbon

 My neighbor & I tried to make the ribbon flowers via Betsy's tutorial. However, we could not get our ribbon flowers to curl up. So we decided to use Betsy's colorful card layout with paper flowers and Dawn's bow tying technique.

  I just love this color combination.  Who would have ever thought pink & orange would look so great together with a touch of red? Betsy, of course!!!

 For the flowers, I used the Beautiful Blooms die and stamp set. I cut a bit between the petals so I could curl them up some.

After I returned from dinner, I tried Betsy's ribbon flower technique again and by golly I got it to work. I guess I function best after I've had a couple of glasses of wine. Go figure. Look out for a future card containing ribbon flowers, but don't hold your breath. I need to order more ribbon.

Stamp-A-Faire Make & Take

  Our entries for the Make & take
       

                                              Carol aka krillsister

                                                   Elise aka Bunni

Stamp-A -Faire Meet and Greet

  Happy Friday! The eve before the long awaited SAF 2012.

My neighbor, Elise (aka Bunni on the forum) & I plan to craft together tomorrow during SAF. However we will be doing so only in the afternoon as I have to help my son clean his 3 story level house since new renters will be moving in on Sunday.

We decided to get together for a bit this evening.

  Instead of s'more, we opted for some white wine.

                                                             Elise aka Bunni

                                                             me, Carol aka krillsister

 Since we polished off the bottle in less than an hour, I think there will be no more crafting tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow! Cheers!!

Flower Fusion Thank You

  I purchased several of the Flower Fusion stamp sets from PTI. They are the cutest little images. Since one can never have enough thank you cards on hand and my stash is depleted, I thought I would whip  up a CAS card to have on hand. .

  I used Fresh Snow on Spring Rain cardstock. The stems were stamped in Fresh Snow as well as Ripe Avocado. The thank you sentiment was also stamped in Fresh Snow and Versamark.
 I am going to link this up to Rhonda's Thankful-Thursday. Check out her blog. She has successfully made a thank you card each week since the beginning of 2012.  Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.

MIM # 75 Roll The Dice

This week PTI has a neat challenge. One has to fill out a form created by Erin Lincoln, roll a dice and create a card based upon the # rolled and the corresponding element recorded on the form. Instead of rolling a dice, I used a number generator on my phone. Here's a shot of my completed form. In the image category, I  put stamp sets that needed more love. Coming up with color combinations was the hardest part for me.

  This is what the number generator decided:
            Orientation: #4 Vertical
             Layout #6 
             Stamp Set Image: Lock and Key (what I was hoping would not come up)
             Stamp set Sentiment : Delightful Dahlia (I think I am in trouble)
             Color Combo: Winter wisteria, Kraft, Spring Rain, Simply Charteuse (I love this!)
             Embellishment: Button

And the resulting card:     As my granddaughter would say:   Ta  Daaaaa

The only other dies I used were the Striped IP and the Limitless Layers and Tag Dies

 To solve my sentiment dilemma, I selectively stamped the single word "love" from "I just love you" in Delightful Dahlia and added "...is the key that opens the heart" from the Lock & Key Set. Since the sentiment is so small, I could not get a clear picture. This was a neat challenge. I really enjoyed it. I hope you get a chance to play along. Thanks for stopping by.

Ooh La La

    The dressform from Signature Series is one of my favorites.  However, I don't seem to utilize it as much as I should. I fancied it up a bit by stamping a leaf flourish and adding a gathered ribbon skirt.  I had this pattern paper in my stash and felt it complemented the dressform.  Since I haven't been using the stitched frame die (fogot what it's named)  too much I decided to use it for the sentiment.

Two up close shots of the details.

I think the black edging lends a little vintage flair to the card.

 I really liked the way this card turned out. I hope my neice liked it. Thanks for stopping by.

Retrosketches # 20

  Happy Monday! I am even happier since I was able to place my PTI order with no problems. One of the first times ever! Wahoo!  Retrosketches continues to present awesome sketches each week. This is the one featured this week.

 

 

  I am starting my Christmas cards; usually try to do as many as possible in the summer. I send out almost 80 of them.  Last year was one of the few years I made different cards rather than mass producing just one.

 

I stamped BB:Tin Types onto Fine Linen card stock. The faux poinsettia was actually made from the Simply Sunflower and Dahlia dies. The sentiment is from Fillable Frames #4 and the paper is Holiday Flourishes and Swirls..

Since I really like how this card turned out,  I think I will make 9 more. There are so many elements I can assemble watching tv. Thanks for stopping by.

Lovely Layers Birthday Card!

  Keeping with the Lovely Layer Flower and impressed stripes theme I used for the  All Occasion Card set  I posted earlier in the week, I made this card to accompany it.

I accidentally deleted the photo of the sentiment behind the zip strip. However, I did stamp it directly on the Hawaiian Shore card stock before impressing it. I originally bought the Striped IP for the side I used on the card set. But since my card was turned horizontally, I had to use the pin stripe side of the IP. Boy, I do love this look.

Seems like I am on a Hawaiian Shore kick lately. I must have had that card stock sitting in my stash for about a year before I recently started using it. Now I can't stop. Thanks for stopping by.

Gift Bag

Yesterday I posted an All Occasion Card set I gave to my daughter's mother-in-law for her birthday. How I wish I had the Handmade Stationary Stamp set being released tomorrow by PTI. It surely adds a nice touch to a gift bag.

This is the gift bag I made for the card set. Since I don't own the Front & Center die, I made it myself using one of the edgers die #4 and an oval Coluzzle. I used the same flower created from the Lovely Layer stamp set used on the cards.

Since I am trying to spread my love with all the dies I own, I added the bow from the Loopy Daisy Die.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Gift Set

     Last week I was busy crafting a birthday gift  for my daughter's mother-in-law.  We get along and celebrate most of the holidays together. We often get together for "ice tea".

Since I hadn't used the new Lovely Layers set yet, I decided to create 8 all occasion cards for her. For the base I used Summer Sunrise, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores and Wisteria Purple.

 The striped IP adds some nice background texture.

  I used one of the old PTI boxes as my container since the 8 cards were rather bulky from the flower being propped up.

An up close view of the belly band.

 Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow I will be sharing the gift bag & tag I put this gift in.