Now, I know that at first glance, this isn't your typical "love" card. But there's a special story behind it. On our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, I was working as a cashier at Walmart (hubby was still in school; I had just graduated). Halfway through my workday, I noticed a small cluster of people gathering at the end of my checkout lane - people I recognized from school. The next thing I know, they're lined up in a semi-circle around me, singing an amazing a cappella version of "You Are My Sunshine." Talk about a show-stopper! It caused quite the little scene, customers and employees alike stopping to watch, while I stood there blushing like mad. Hubby had hired them to come and serenade me at work. Isn't that the sweetest? Later my coworkers told me that they could hear the singing all the way back in the shoe department. Needless to say, hubby became quite the legend at work after that!
To make this card, I embossed a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" piece of cardstock with a Tim Holtz embossing folder (thanks Amy!), then sponged over the raised areas with ink. I created the sentiment with label tape, then mounted the whole panel on a 4 3/4 x 6" card. Easy peasy! Really, the part that took the longest was carefully sponging the ink. The rest was cake!
Card Supplies: Ink: Stampin' Up (Summer Sun); Cardstock: DCWV; Accessories: Cuttlebug / Tim Holtz "Rays" embossing folder, Dymo labelmaker, black label tape
Look what arrived at my door the other day - the blog candy I won from Amy Tsuruta!
It's my first ever blog candy win, and it is chock-full of crafty goodness! Even better was what came with it: an honest-to-goodness made-by ~Amy~ card!
Isn't it fabby? Love all the machine stitching she used. Such a cheery card!
And of course with all those new supplies at my fingertips, I had to whip up a little card of my own:
That birdcage stamp was calling to me the moment I opened the box. I kept it nice and simple; the "chain" and sentiment were stamped directly on the cardfront, while the birdcage was cut out and attached with foam dimensionals. The sentiment seemed a little lackluster on its own, so I added the rhinestones as a final touch. {Happy Sigh} Don't you just love that birdcage? I'm smitten!
Thanks again, Amy, for such a wonderful prize! I can't wait to try out all the other goodies!
Card Supplies Stamps: Studio G (birdcage), Hero Arts (All Occasion Messages - sentiment), Basic Grey (Aviary - chain); Ink: SEI chalk (cocoa); Accessories: rhinestones, foam dimensionals
Now this is just too stinkin' cute. I don't think I've ever seen a commercial aimed specifically at scrapbookers before, have you? Talk about a creative bunch!
I've got just enough time to squeeze in one more card today; this one qualifies for the Play Date Cafe Challenge PDCC58. Here's the color inspiration pic:
And here's my card:
This also qualifies for the Simplicity OLW31 Challenge, which is to create a one-layer card using a technique or product that got you hooked on stamping. I decided to go with 2-step stamping, since the very first set of stamps I bought was a gorgeous 2-step flower set from Stampin' Up. My cardbase is textured watercolor paper; I used an edge-distresser to give the right-hand edges a faux-Fabriano look. The font combined with the bird image gives this a sort of retro 50s feel, don't you think? This would be an easy card to mass-produce, and it's nice and flat for mailing!
Card Supplies: Stamps: We R Memory Keepers "2 Step Robin" (Vintage Blue collection), Martha Stewart (sentiment); Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Ink It Up! pigment (red); Paper: watercolor; Accessories: edge distresser
I think this snowy card represents some serious wishful thinking on my part! It finally got down in the 30s last night, but our days are still hovering in the 50s; when I look out my window, I see green trees everywhere. (I'm still trying to figure that one out; they're not fir trees, just regular ol' trees, but they keep their green leaves all winter. It's a little disconcerting for this midwestern girl!) Luckily, it's been just cold enough for the sweet potato vendors to come out with their little wheeled ovens, selling roasted sweet potatoes and corn on the cob along the sidewalk. There's nothing like a piping hot sweet potato on a chilly evening - crinkly, brittle skin like old paper surrounding a creamy, sweet filling - perfect in its simplicity.
P.S. It wasn't until I was editing the photos that I realized the circle layer looks like a giant snowball. I guess I really do have snow on the brain!
I find it a bit ironic that I had to purchase this "made in China" Cricut from a US website which in turn sent it to me here in - China. This thing has racked up more skymiles than most people! Alas, just because something is manufactured in China doesn't mean it's available for sale in China. Luckily, I got it for a song over at Custom Crop's Pink Tuesday sale (even with the international shipping added in I still saved money). This is actually my second Cricut Create; my first one stopped working out of the blue last year. I thought about switching to a Silhouette, but since I've already invested so much in the cartridges, I decided I'd just wait for this year's Black Friday sales to try to score a replacement Cricut on the cheap. Now the hard part is going to be waiting till Christmas to break it out!
I thought I'd play along with the Embellish Magazine Holidays Color Challenge, which uses these colors as inspiration:
This is what I came up with:
I had a lot of fun using these colors; not ones I'd usually think to use for holiday cards. But I think they worked well, especially with the homespun feel of the stamp images. Lots of Cuttlebugging on this one - this Herringbone folder has been getting a real workout lately! It's hard to see in the pic (since it's so tiny), but the reindeer has an itty-bitty rhinestone for a nose (I colored it with a Sharpie to match the sentiment ink color). I thought it helped tie the colors together nicely. TFL!
