New Baby Girl Card

Steve and I welcomed grandchild #10, baby Zoey Rae's arrival Tuesday evening.  I used the Brenda Walton cardstock and her 3-dimensional stickers when designing this card.  I was at the local Archiver's earlier in the day and saw that tulle netting was in all the latest embellishments  -- not cheap, either!!!  So I went two stores down to Joann's and bought 1/2 yard of light pink tulle for only 35 cents (used my 50% off coupon!).   I attached the tulle under the Stampin Up top note mat I cut using my Big Shot.  I attached the mat using dimensional dots to give it more of a lift.  I also used Stampin Up's ribbon punch to add the two borders and the center strip on the mat.  I also added two pink rhinestones to the sides of the center ribbon strip to give it just a little more bling.  The Stampin Up bridal blush paper was the perfect color for the background mat.  I used the same papers for the inside of the card, punching a large scalloped oval for the background.  I stamped the verse on the printed cardstock and punched it out with the Stampin Up designer label punch.  I then punched out the coordinating paper two times with the designer label punch and layered it underneath the top label, barely showing around the edges.  Topped it off with two more pink rhinestones.

I think the tulle really added a lot to the  card.  Plan on going back to Joann's to get a couple more colors of tulle for Easter and Mother's Day cards.

Let me know your thoughts!

Anniversary Card

My sister and her husband celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary last week.  I saw a similar design using the Stampin Up Bliss set and thought it would be appropriate for this occasion.
I distressed the edges of the cardstocks, used dimensional dots to give the flowers, butterfly, and the word punch some lift.  I like the linen thread bow tied in the center of the ribbon -- a little added detail that took two seconds to do!

Let me know what you think!

Birthday Card for Mom

My mom turned 87 last week.  I designed this card for her -- since her middle name is "Rose", I thought this cardstock was appropriate!  I tore two different card stock designs from the Stampin Up vintage paper pack.  I then distressed the edges and attached them to the front of a vintage-paper cardstock.  I then cut out the rose designs from another sheet of cardstock, distressed the edges and attached to the center of the card front, using dimensional dots to give them a life.  I also added matching small pearls to the centers of the roses and highlighted the rose petals with my stardust glitter pen.  I found the gold plastic vintage fan in a package of buttons, so I removed the shank, put a scrap of lace trim underneath it, and attached it to the bottom of the card.  I think it balances the entire design of the card roses, papers, etc.  I stamped happy birthday and punched out, distressed edges and attached with dimensional dots. 

Let me know what you think!

St Patrick's Day Cards

I held St Patrick's Day card classes last week at work -- really had a lot of fun!

I designed three different cards, two used the same technique but different cardstock designs.  A total of nineteen cards were made during our lunch hour on two days!  Lots of fun as well as therapy during the middle of a work day!


I like the new embossing folder technique, where you put your punched shapes on top of your card stock mat before running it thru the embossing folder with your Big Shot -- used that technique on the 4 clover card.

I used a tiny green rhinestone to "dot" the lower case "i" in "Irish" to give each card a little "bling".  Also used my stardust glitter pen to outline the tine shamrocks on the verse just to highlight a little bit.

Let me know what you think!

Vellum Bridal Shower Invitations

A view of the first version of this bridal shower invitation -- I changed the heart later (see pictures below). 

Another view of the first version of this bridal invitation -- I changed the heart in the middle (see below)

Close up of the bottom embossed area of the vellum paper (with the updated heart)

Close up of the embossed areas of the vellum paper and the pearls and updated heart

Here is the second invitation I designed for my future niece's bridal shower.  Wasn't sure if my sister wanted a more "traditional" look or a vintage look (my previous post).  This invitation also uses the color purple as the base.  I then cut a piece of floral cardstock (mint, purple, pink colors) and used it as the focal point in the center of the card.  I then took a sheet of vellum paper and ran it thru my Big Shot to emboss it with the tiny birds, vines, etc.  I cut that down to fit over the printed paper to give it a more muted look.  I colored the embossed areas of the vellum with chalks to soften the appearance.  I attached the vellum to the top of the printed card stock using special vellum tape.  A notch was punched in the left side of the papers and a sheer purple ribbon was laced thru and knotted.  I then took a piece of vellum and ran it thru the Big Shot using my embossed heart die cut, punched a heart from the purple card stock, layered the two and placed in the middle of the card front.  I also added six tiny pearls to the embossed vellum paper to make it more elegant.  I think it is the perfect finish touch!
It took me some time to get everything the way I wanted it to be, removing parts and pieces, replacing them with other embellishments until I finally liked the end result!

Vintage Bridal Shower Invitations

Vintage Bridal Shower Invitation

Close up of vintage lace and embossed button

Close up of embossed heart lock, torn edges, and verse underheath

Close up of embossed key and scalloped edge border

I have been asked to design invitations for my future niece's bridal shower.  I wasn't sure what type of "theme" my sister would like, so I started out using the vintage look 9my favorite!).  The wedding theme color is purple, so I wanted to use that somewhat in the invitation without being overpowering.

I ran heavy gold metallic card stock thru my Big Shot machine to cut out and emboss the "trinkets"; I then used brown ink to distress them and give them a "tarnished" look.  Found a piece of antique lace to give some texture to the card.  I also stamped the verse "love" and placed it underneath the top left corner of the vintage papers that I had pieced together.  I then ripped the top left edge of the vintage papers to expose the verse underneath, curling the paper and distressing all edges to give it a more vintage appearance.  I also used a scalloped border punch to bring attention to the right border, also distressing this area.  I was happy with the results!  Time consuming, of course, but well worth it!!!

Christmas Card Luncheon Workshop

Blue snow globe with embossed snowflake background paper

 I held four Christmas card luncheon workshops during the first few weeks of December.  There were about twelve ladies that participated in total, most coming on multiple days.  What a great way to spend our lunch hour, playing with glue, paper,  and glitter! 

Feather tree embellished with mini buttons; background is embossed and sanded  Coordination paper

Embossed background using mat board; fabric poinsettia flower buttons

Watercolor snowman with crushed glass glitter for snow effect

Watercolor vintage tree embellished with crushed glass glitter

Show globe with snowflake embossed white background