happy (hybrid) Easter!

Happy Easter, all!

I played a bit this a.m. Yesterday while at a make-'n-take I picked up a sheet of some stinkin' cute DP at my local stamping store. I thought it would make SUCH a cute background on a card if it weren't for the fact that the bunny was facing right ... and therefore away from what would become the center of the card. My BFFs know that's something that bugs me about some folkes' placement of stamps on cards ... and so what did I do, you ask?! Well, if I'd used the portion of the DP from the right-facing bunny to its right, I'd have lost those cute topiary bushes ... so I decided to go digi.

I haven't played around w PhotoShop in ages, so purchased, then scanned the DP, and flipped that bunny so he was left-facing. I printed out a couple pictures and then fussy cut around the bunny so that I could pop him up. I also used the color picker so that I could have the lavender from the polka dots as the card background. The white portion of the card is popped up off the lavender as well. Voila!

I'm happy w the results, tho' it's afternoon before I'm posting my happy Easter greetings. Such is life, eh?!

stamps: Heather's F-180-HK Happy Easter greeting; paper: We R Memory Keepers' Cotton Tails English Garden DP, Neenah Solar White card stock; ink: Ranger black soot distress ink, PC-generated photo

fleas navidad

I'm just making a quick stop to share a card that I mailed to my brother this past week ... hoping that he doesn't think that I think that his pup's got fleas! I'd seen the sentiment stamp and couldn't pass up the opp to make a card casing it! My sentiment's PC-generated using one of the fonts from a set of 7 Kim Hughes fonts I'd purchased back in August from the kind folkes at scrapNfonts. I'm a professed fontaholic and probably have WAAAY too many on my PC, LOL!

Anywho, this card's winging its way to my brother, who just happens to have a pet mini dachshund named Pippin.  The DP's from a recent sketch workshop held at CAM (link at stores on right), and I'm not sure what the pup stamp is from ... and too lazy to go dig it up right now too!

Thanx for stopping by!

SC320 let's chat

To say that my sister inspires me is an under-statement, in more ways than one. She commented on one of her friends' Facebook pages the other day about a video the friend had uploaded - a humorous one about avoiding people you no longer wish to chat with ... so I posted a comment on my sister's page noting how that it made me think about when was the last time we'd chatted ... which in turn inspired today's card.

I printed and cut the various DPs last night but assembled the card this morning, as we're all home due to President's Day weekend for my eldest and snow days for my youngest and me. I downloaded all the DPs from Jessica Sprague's online shop just last week. I love gray and yellow color combos. I also love sketch challenges. This one's from SCS' latest, SC320.

stamps: PTI's On My Couch and On My Couch additions; paper: Carina Gardner's daisy jane digi DP collection; ink: Color Box's Antique Pewter and Charcoal; tools: Fiskar's threading water border punch

welcome baby, hybrid-style

I love the digi images from Pink Petticoat! When I spotted their recently introduced baby boy version to match last summer's baby girl buggy, I was right there, figuring it was only a matter of time before someone needed a baby boy card! LOVE their stuff! And ... I've gotta admit, I felt the need to break away from Valentine's cards! It felt good to make a non-V-Day card today!

I paper-pieced the baby buggy using some beautiful Crystal Wilkerson (of Creativity by Crystal) digi-DP from the August 2009 Collection at Jessica Sprague's online shop. I printed some 4x6" and wallet-size pictures of the DP, so it'd have a smaller pattern on the buggy than what was used for the background piece. And the best part of going the digi-BK route?! How about eight (count 'em ... 8!) different patterns in nine (yep, 9!) different colors, all for $1 ... and I can use and reuse 'em any time I like!

The baby's watercolored. I was going to curve the vellum sentiment to pop it up a bit, but I'm not sure whether the receiver of this card (Hi Susan!) will be mailing or handing the card to the future Mom at a baby shower ... so I tucked that under the scallops of the background. Each layer's popped up using dimensionals and I've had really good luck using Tombow's Mono Vellum adhesive to attach vellum paper and card stock to cards. Nichole's Make-It-Monday #2 challenge was to use a vellum strip for your sentiment; I didn't use any PTI product for today's card but that inspired the vellum portion! And the scallops? Check out this week's SCS CAS106 challenge!

edited to add: woot! woot! this card was posted as a hybrid gallery standout on mesoscrappy's blog!

stamps: Pink Petticoat Baby Boy Buggy; paper: Creativity by Crystal's Fresh Florals DP, Staples' white and SU's Sahara Sand card stocks, The Paper Co's vellum card stock; ink: PC-generated sentiments, Tri-C watercolor markers; accessories: Pink Hedgehog's sky blue brads (w inside sentiment); tools: my latest and greatest Spellbinders Nestabilities Big Scalloped Rectangles LG (they were on sale this week at my local Hobby Lobby - 40% off! - and I controlled myself and only purchased this one set!)

one fish, two fish ...

one fish, two fish, red fish, BLue fish ...

I wanted to make a get well card from my sons for my niece, who we visited today, and this week's clean and simple CAS77 challenge was my inspiration. That, and this week's Card Positioning System's CPS177 sketch challenge. The inside sentiment reads: Hope you FEEL BETTA SOON! so naturally the fish bowl had to include a betta fish, right?! When I spotted these two betta fish - one red, the other blue - when searching for the fish on the Internet, that clinched today's card for me! I didn't color in the fish bowl, making today's card CAS indeed!

stamps: ai factory's Betta Fish And Bowl; paper: SU's Basic Black, Ruby Red, Shimmery White card stocks; ink: PC-generated digi stamps; tools: ek success' dotted scallop border punch

when it rains, it pours

Yep, another baby card ... the count's at 2 boys, 1 girl this past week. This card's on its way to the first grandbaby of a prior coworker, compliments of my boss Susan and I. She made the awesome baby bonnet keepsake (out of a hankie - here's an example of one), and I made the card and used the poem from that same post for the inside sentiment. We work in conjunction on baby gifts lately!

I love the multiple rows of scallops at the bottom of the card AND the awesome crocheted rose that matched my digi DP to a "T;" don't you agree?! I picked up a 6-pk of them from an Etsy shop last spring. I couldn't find the gal's name who made them. I've gotta teach myself to crochet ...

stamps: Pink Petticoat's baby buggy; paper: Jessica Sprague's CrystalW Sept09 PaperCollection digi collection, SU's Whisper White card stock; ink: Pebbles' chalks; accessories: unknown Etsy shop crocheted rose, unknown silk ribbon; tools: Die-namic's large scallop

variation on a theme ...

I had some left-over DP-printed card stock from yesterday's card and then was asked to make another boy baby card for Monday, so decided to make a variation of yesterday's card, this time putting the sentiment on in portrait orientation. The couple people I'd shown the last card to both tried to turn it sideways ... sigh ... so, which do you prefer? Two down, one to go - this one for a girl baby!

stamps: SU's Picture This; ink: ColorBox dark brown, Ranger antique linen distress ink; paper: A1 Neenah Classic Natural White card stock, Jessica Sprague's CrystalW Sept09 digi collection (all printed on nat'l white card stock)

a star is born

A hybrid card today, this cutie patootie uses one of the used stamp sets I purchased last week and some digi DP that I purchased online recently from Jessica Sprague. It's based on one of the cards in Kristina Werner's July 2010 segment of her A Year in Cards class from Two Peas in a Bucket. It's for a new boy baby. Isn't the DP sweet?! Both DP sections and the stars were popped up using dimensionals. Easy peasy!

stamps: SU's Congrats (inside sentiment), Picture This; ink: Ranger black soot distress ink; paper: A1 Neenah Classic Natural White card stock, Jessica Sprague's CrystalW Sept09 digi collection (all printed on nat'l white card stock); accessories: Westrim Crafts 1mm hemp cording

FTL88 birthday wishes two-fer

A prior coworker's b'day is approaching and I've been picking up sock monkey-related items now and then, putting them aside, as they made me think of her. Well, her b'day's approaching, so I thought I'd whip up a quick hybrid b'day card to deliver to her house with the stash. This SHOULD have a sock monkey included in it, but such is life! I rec'd this stinkin' cute tulip pic in an e-mail this past week and used the color picker in Photoshop to make both the green card stocks. The FTL88 sketch layout called for ribbon across the card, but I didn't have any on hand that matched the card stock so a bit of white border punch did the trick! The greens and whites in Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger post inspired this green card.


stamps: MSE's Hand Written; paper: recycled handout card stock from work; ink: PC-generated card stocks and Ranger's Black Soot distress ink; tools: ek's dotted scallop border punch

thanx - I needed that!

A hybrid card for today - it's mid-week and I'm home playing. I asked for a last-minute vacation day yesterday afternoon, by special request from my DH, who thought we should head to a local golf store to stock up on supplies as our league starts next week ... and maybe check out clubs while we're there. I'd like a new pair of sandals too. My DH gave me a gift card to go towards clubs a year ago Christmas and I hadn't used it, so today's the day! I put the card in his card this year with a note that it goes towards today's purchases.

Until then, though, I thought I'd play on the PC. I made a thank you card for a friend who loves Penny Black hedgehogs - they're so stinkin' cute, y'know?! The card's based on today's Splitcoaststampers' SC277 sketch challenge and uses a digi image someone e-mailed me last year. I used Photoshop's color picker tool to grab a few colors from the image and colored some card stock - recycled handout materials from my work place in honor of it being Earth Day tomorrow (and 'cuz I'm temporarily out of white card stock except for scraps!).

stamps: Penny Black's Acrobat, MSE's hand written (inside sentiment); paper: recycled handout cover from work; inks: ColorBox Frost White, Tri-C watercolor markers; accessories: SU 1/4" pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon from my most recent ribbon share; tools: ek success' dotted scallop border punch

good neighbors hybrid

Jack and Mary just moved into new digs near Mary's work place so I thought this new set was timely ... and it's SO new - I just got it yesterday! I've lusted over this set but kept trying to resist temptation. Well, temptation finally won out during last month's stamp camp (thanx, Angie!).

The plane, banner, house, and a couple clouds are popped up using pop dots. The plane's from the Oh Boy! Elements Pack by Creativity by Crystal and Carina Gardner. These planes, cars, and trucks come as stickers, rub-ons, and epoxies and coordinate with the Oh Boy! Paper Collection (oooh, I'd missed that!), available from JessicaSprague.com, and I've used one of the five plane epoxies here (click on the picture to see the plane close-up to get the kewl 3-D effect). When I spotted them in this past Monday's e-newsletter, they immediately made me think of my brother.

stamps: Creativity by Crystal and Carina Gardner's Oh Boy! Elements Pack, SU's Good Neighbors, Seasonal Whimsey; paper: Memory Box's sprout DP, A1's Natural White, The Paper Co's Kraft, and SU's bashful blue card stocks; ink: StazOn's Timber Brown, Ranger's black soot Distress Ink, SU's Old Olive, Really Rust, and Ruby Red markers

Emerald BLESSINGS

Hi folkes! Today's card is a digi blend - the "Emerald BLESSINGS" sentiment from Claire's free digital St Patrick's Day stamp set offering (thanx, Claire!), and shamrock picture from an Internet search. I only made a couple St Pat's cards this year, the slacker that I am lately. I'll make up for it - honest!

stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps' Irish Blessings (inside sentiment and shamrocks); paper: SU's Garden Green, Whisper White and The Paper Co's Kraft card stocks; ink: black soot Ranger Distress Ink, Color Box Frost White pigment ink; tools: Martha Stewart's arch lattice edge border and Marvy Uchida corner rounder punches

a couple of mini digis

Sad news: I've lost my local source of free large (5-1/2 x 7-1/4") envelopes (tip I've shared in the past - most square cards can be mailed in these using a regular first class stamp) so decided to try a new (to me) 4-1/4" square size cards. This smaller size card will fit into my regular card envelopes that I purchase in quantity at JoAnn's or Mike's on a regular basis. The university's bookstore where I work (insert shameless plug here for Kettering University) had previously been a Hallmark outlet, and offered customers extra envelopes on request. I'd offered once to purchase a box, but the kind folkes working there said not to bother; to just pick up a few every once in a while. Well, my supply was dwindling so I stopped in the other day only to learn that they'd switched card suppliers. Sigh ...

... but I digress ... so, today's cards were inspired by my latest tee from Threadless - cute dandy lions, eh?! I thought they were a remembrance of spring, so decided to make a Welcome Spring card (inside sentiment: Bidding winter a fond farewell ... in like a lion ... and out like a lamb!). And then I happened upon a nice inspirational quote that made me think of a friend whose DH is ill - "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." - Mary Anne Radmacher, so I made another. The matted picture is popped up using dimensionals. Today's post is a rare two-fer.

stamps: n/a - a digi card; paper: SU's soft suede, very vanilla card stocks; ink: PC-generated sentiments

spring is near ... honest!

Another hybrid card, this one uses a digi flower set I picked up from Jessica Sprague's One Buck Wednesday offerings this past week. I love the black, white, and a splash of color combos. This particular digi set includes lots of mix and match flowers and stems. If you look closely, these particular stems have a bit of an outline - that's so that, especially if mounted on another color other than white, that they'll look like stickers ... cool idea!

I rarely post in the morning, and SHOULD be getting ready for work, but I had printed this image before hitting the hay last night ... now I'm OFF! See ya later, 'gators!

stamps: Crystal Wilkerson's Color Me Happy digi set; paper: Paper Reflections' black, SU's Bermuda Bay card stocks; ink: PC printer ink; accessories: unknown black thing-a-ma-jiggys at the bottom ... sigh ... what do you call them, again?!

the friendliest flowers

"Daisies are the friendliest flowers!" Remember that line from You've Got Mail!? don't you agree? I LOVE them, so that's the first of last night's cards from our meeting with the lovely and talented Angie that I'm sharing w ya'll!

I messed up on the sentiment but liked the way it turned out so didn't re-do! And what do I spy? Is that some of the latest In Color, Melon Mambo? Yep - yesterday's class was all about playing with the latest In Colors!

no deets today - I've gotta get ready for work and they were all supplied in the class

edited to add: the inside's a digi from a cartoonist's couple that I like - Cathy Thorne of everyday people cartoons - and the card's now winging its way to my sis & her DH for their anniversary! The sentiment's from SU's Hugs & Wishes, one of my new gently-used sets.

happy b'day KAZ!

My sister shares her birthday with architect Frank Lloyd Wright and composer Robert Schumann, so I borrowed from both to make today's card. I love FLW and there are 20+ patterns of his windows available in cross stitch patterns. This is one of my favs, the tree of life piece, so it's appropriate that it's heading to my fav sis! It's based on this past week's OCC sketch challenge, below.

I scanned in the photo from the cross stitch design, used PhotoShop's color picker to pick out a couple colors from the design, and matted it - another digi creation. And the quote I used from Robert Schumann for the inside sentiment? "Talent works, genius creates."


stamps: n/a; carstock: unknown white; accessories: pink dotted swiss from a ribbon share

school's out for SUMMER!

My eldest's last day of school is tomorrow ... I know, where's the time fly, eh?! I, being a natural-born procrastinator, put off 'til this weekend to both pick up gifts and make cards for the teacher, 3 classroom aides, bus driver, and bus aide. I picked out some potted Gebera daisies for the classroom folkes, and found the cutest bright plastic pots.

My eldest's older so I actually get to make less cards now - he used to have a speech therapist as well. T'riffic gal and VERY crafty - we used to exchange Christmas ornaments, which I miss. But I digress ...

I made 4 of the same cards - just switched the inside sentiments - for the teacher and classroom aides. The background's digi - I took pictures of the cute bright plastic pots and then used a PhotoShop's color picker to make matching cardstock, then stamped black on white and mounted the silhouette print on black cardstock.
Another digi for the bus driver and aide - I picked out some clipart bus pics - one features a bus driver, and the other looks like it may be the back of the bus. I used the color picker again for the background cardstock, and a couple fonts I love for the sentiments - Tahoma and BlackJack. The bus driver and aide are both getting some bright yellow potted grasses - hope they like 'em! We picked up some grasses that we added to a planting in our back yard too, and some fresh annuals for a hanging basket that I hope I can get planted tomorrow! Ran out of time today.

welcome, Baby Chloe!

Here's another "welcome baby" card for my boss Susan to give to a prior babysitter who recently had her first child. Susan forwarded me a picture of baby Chloe, who was born a few weeks premature this past week, so I switched from my original plan of using yellows and greens to yellows and pinks. I had a "eureka" moment and printed the baby's picture in 50% opacity for the inside of the card, then printed the baby poem on vellum cardstock and mounted it over the picture, tieing them together with a matching ribbon to that used on the front of the card. Then I used the palest of pinks for the base of the card - it's a plain pink digi I made in PhotoShop - and used SU's So Saffron for the little inchie panels.

Want a tip? I wanted two shades of yellow but didn't have another that went with the So Saffron ... so I dragged an opaque white stamp pad across 3 of the squares and voila! a whiter shade of pale (tee hee ... ref to Procol Harum ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWULu5_nXI) ... yellow, that is!

The layout's based on CP sketch#14 and inspired by the lovely and talented Tracy Schultz.

stamps: n/a; paper: BasicGrey's Porcelain DP, SU's So Saffron, Vellum and unknown white cardstocks; ink: VersaMagic's Cloud White, PC-generated sentiments; accessories: unknown dotted swiss pink ribbon, a few baby outfit pop-ups from a prior baby shower invite pkg; tool: MS lace doily border punch

this one's for Den

Here's another Memorial Day-themed card based on Stamp Something's Sketch Something 5/22 challenge (now THAT's a mouthful!), another digi one, that I made for my BIL and his bride in New York.


paper: Reminisce's Celebrate and Freedom DPs, CTMH's Outdoor Denim, The Paper Co's Kraft, SU's Ruby Red and unknown white cardstocks

happy b'day Red Cross

did you know that the American Red Cross was founded on May 21, 1881? I didn't ... until I read my email this a.m. So it's a strange coincidence that the local Red Cross rep stopped by my office Wednesday when I was out (I take 1/2 days on Wednesdays to play in my workplace's golf league) to drop off some literature. One of our fraternities, the Pi Kappa Alphas, hosts a blood drive quarterly at Kettering University, and I assist in spreading the word among faculty and staff.

If you'll be in the Flint MI area and would like to make an appointment to donate with us on Wednesday, June 3rd, head to www.givelife.org (use sponsor code: kettering) - we'd LOVE to have you join us! Every two seconds someone in America needs blood ... and just one pint can save as many as three lives!

Today's card is another quickie digi - I just used Google's image search for some graphics - that I'll use to send the rep a quick note, based on the CPS116 sketch and also works for Sharon's ssnotime88 red, white and blue challenge.