Happy Birthday!

I surveyed my finished card box, and think I love green cards. All kinds of green, but especially the moss or celery shades. I think this card followed a recipe listed on SCS last week. I like when patterned paper comes with a few sheets that match, then when layering it has such a cool affect.

More spring flowers

I'm hoping and wishing, as I look out the kitchen window at 5 beautiful birds at my feeder, that spring is here!! There is a bit of snow behind the grill and a few chunks of white fluff in the shade, but the two or so inches that fell the other night, gone! Hopefully for good!!

Signs that spring break is almost to a close, as neighbors come home, tanned, from their weeks stay at some warm location. Our spring break included visits to Wisconsin and Indiana to see the 'grands'. Wednesday, we rode the train downtown (Chicago) to stop in at Maggiano's for a delicious lunch before we went to see WICKED at the Oriental Theatre. It was just an amazaing show!! I highly recommend it!

And then there is me and my creative greetings!! Flowers galore, hoping for my budding bulbs to pop through the mulch!! I tried a new technique on the baby blue and rock colored paper, I stamped a swirly floral image on some acetate... I recycled some plastic that behind or holding some sort of embellishment. Don't know if it was craft ink, but I let the image dry overnight, before I adhered it to the punches with two brads in opposite corners. Thanks for looking.

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Brace Face

Extreme close-up of Bubba here (at almost 15)!!! Before and after. Photo date is wrong, he got his braces on yesterday! You should see him now... he's napping, didn't sleep too well last night. The kid has never been in so much pain, seriously, knock on wood.... his pain tolerance is very low. Good thing we are on spring break while this happened. He's grouchy too!!

Flap Card

Had to try my hand at the flap cards that were 'hot' a few days ago at SCS. I'm trying to get used to the card being slightly small (mainly for fitting into the envelope) than the 5-1/2" height... cuz I'm just using the 11" paper. Haven't found the swiss dot embossing folder yet... so I had some tiny dot patterned paper. Flower is just popped off a 1/2% stem from HL.... I like the white 'cuz you can ink the edges to have it match (if you want). I like the touch of cuttlebugging on the birthday flap... I suppose you could ink it to make the image 'pop' more. This card recipe is nice, you can open it either from the top or the side.

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A little fluffles greeting

I'm just plugging away designing, creating and CASE-ing cards, oh what fun to have the lap top next to me as I create. I don't think there are any new or unusual techniques that I have wonderously developed for this card. My stash of creative greetings to sell or give as gifts is getting larger and larger. March must be a slow time for card giving. The embellishment is off a strip that I had to divide and conquer, found for $1 at Big Lots. Added a few stickle dots to the flowers. Most of the ribbons I buy are 'cheap' ones from M's when they are 3 for $1. But the color of those ribbons always match. I'm trying to eliminate my old paper scraps, I keep turning to that bin to find my background paper.

PS: Thanks Kim and Heather for your comments, I appreciate them so!

As per usual

Doing a little case-ing here with the frogs. I think they are Whipper Snapper frogs... wishing a little hoppy birthday greeting. Nothing much exciting happening here, unless you're the Easter bunny with snowshoes on!!! I got a grey copic marker and am using it to shade around the whimsy images.

The Rest of my Pictures

I go in stages or phases. I work on cards, let them sit, then stamp and label the back.... then take pictures, then load them on the computer etc.... so I decided to load up my last batch of photos. Ironically all flowers, am I hoping for spring or what. It's beautifully sunny here in Northern Illinois about 35 degrees... and the prediction I hear rumblings about is 6-9 inches of snow tomorrow. I laugh!!! Ha ha ha... for all those people who will be flying out of O'hare for a warm sunny spring break spot! I laugh.... as I sit fat and happy in front of my computer uploading the only flowers I see, ha to them spring breakers leaving!! Oh well, card making is my little ray of sunshine!!!!

Hoping for Spring

I must say, although I try to make at least one card every day... the excitement and muse of creating at times recently is just not there! That is so sad, because I LOVE to make cards. I get bored making more than one of the same card. Maybe too, it's because it seems like it has been winter for so very long. So, I was just scanning through the Spring Supplement (on line) for TAC and saw this image. The stamen are glistening with Crystal Effects.

One corner of my office

Here is my creative spot, my office. This is how I work most of the time, I need to shove stuff aside to work in my 6"x6" cleared spot. I can't have a clean area, the juice just does not flow. So, you can see in the one picture my shot spot how I line up to white card stock to take pictures of my cards. It sits on my paper cutter and is proped up by supplies that are in baskets, pots and vases. Great view out the window and it feels cozy. Then on my desk where I really work, ink, pens, scissors and stuff is all within arms reach. TV to the left and roaming laptop to my right, and all the good stuff in the middle. I love my creative spot!!!

Patterned Paper Project

Found a cute K & Co (?) paper pack at 30% off a while back at J's. Cuttlebugged the background and then cut around the imagae to pop itup and out. I've been viewing http://stampinwithmarkiesmom.blogspot.com/(Faith) and really like her layouts and the way she has dots on every single layer. Here is a variation on her style.

Easter Wishes

I like how this card came out with a chalk like affect. I used a white gel pen to color in the bunny.

Horton Hears a WHO

I just love that title. Every time I hear a commercial for the new movie with the Dr. Suess characters... it just sits there in my head... so when I came across this cute little guy, I of course had to CASE him. Too cute!! I see very simple imaged cards in specialty stores, try to engrave it in my brain and only remember that I looked on the back and they were selling it for $4.95! Thanks to those who blog or put these cute, whimsical cards on the internet... and I copy the image and you think I'm so clever. Ha, who me????

Yoga Baby!

Charley's(the dog depicted in the cards below)mom is a yoga instructor. She teaches yoga to pregnant moms. She gets close to some of these moms and asked if I would make up a card ( I think she gives a little gift too) she can give the moms after they've had their babies. One for boy(blue) and girl (pink), the tag is attached with a safety pin and can be used for her to write in the babies name or birth date, and of course the young un is in a classic (ommmmm) yoga position.

Changing over to stainless

Here are some before and after pictures of my new kitchen. We changed the bisque color of appliances over to stainless steel. You can see what my hard hours working at school for the past 5 months has paid for. We really like the efficiency of the new stove, the dishwasher is so quiet, and love the freezer on the bottom of the fridge.

The Stove

Okay the before and after focusing on the stove and microwave, but you can see the dishwasher to the left. The color of the woodwork in the cabinet really stands out against the stainless.

New Charley Cards

Hey y'all... here's one for you Kim!!!... I'll say these are my original drawings of our neighbor's dog Charley. This is the 2nd set she's asked for.... so below are different versions of Charley wishing birthday wishes. I've been trying to make more of my own background paper, but realize I don't have a great variety of inks... the purple background with the party hats has ink smooshed into the paper with cling wrap dipped in ink. I just tried to make each card slightly different with the birthday theme.

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Left overs

A little outside my box...one day I took all the scraps that were actually on my desk and tried to create a card. I had purchased the small oval SU! punch to complete the oval-ness... cuttlebugged one of the pieces of paper, added a ribbon and some punched flowers.

As I've said before... I like whimsy... I like the color combo... but think it needs some sort of cute animal or bug or something...but this will go in the finished pile....the card will find a home to somebody.

A stamp camp card

Here's a nice and simple card I made at stamp camp last week. I think the simple image seems so elegant (is that the word) maybe, appropriate. We outlined the image and the white paper with a gold gel pen. Framed the image with a homemade type of paper. I don't personally have this stamp, but I like the layout and would do it again for additional sympathy cards.

Hey Cupcake!

Well, instead of birthday cakes, or a slice of birthday cake... it seems as though cupcakes are the rage!!! Here are 3 wildly different cards. I think the little chef mouse is adorable. I of coarse cased this card and drew the little cuttie holding a few delicious treats. I Cuttlebugged him and added a few buttons. The pink and brown cupcakes is a project made at stamp camp. Can you tell which cupcake is 'popping' out? The poloroid image, also made at stamp camp, is embossed. I think a smidgen cupcake is just as good as a big ole piece of birthday cake!!

A little bit of Easter Charm

Although I was missing in action from my blog, I was still casing and creating cards. Here are a few bunny cards! I can't say enough how I like the whimsical animals, more so than the serious realistic choices out there. Cartoonish is so much easier for me to recreate and draw. So, all of these bunnies are CASed... but as the norm, hand drawn by me. I'm still working on my shading, inside and out of the images. My coloring of choice is still water color pencils with a blender pen. Some shading is pulling color from a marker with the blender pen. Stay tuned for more creative greetings.!

En Garde

I had a request for a card that reflected a greeting to a young gentleman who is a 'fencer'.... so the front reads... En Garde Inside: It's your day, touche! I found the image on my PrintMaster program on the computer. Love my Nestabilities to punch out all these different sized scallop circles. I haven't bought any new designer patterned paper in a while... so I'm still going through scraps to add a bit of oomph to my creative greetings!!!

Did I mention that I broke one of my cuttlebug cutting plates? I happened to forget my plate sandwich layering combination and tried too hard to create something, and snap.... plate B broke in two. I seemed helpless for two days until I bought a replacement... almost killed me 'cuz I didn't have a coupon to buy it. Two new B plates for $8.