me and you - what a team!

I learned this past Saturday that cardinal red is Jill's fav red - that's the basis of this red and white valentine card from CAM's make-'n-take. It's a nice bright red! I collect cardinals. It's something I originally started collecting for my Mom, as it's one of her fav birds. We're lucky to have some that regularly visit our bird feeders, but she spots them far and few between at her home. So, about 15 years ago I started picking her up on most Christmases. My sister got into the act too, and now every now and then Mom will stroll around the house counting all the cardinals she's amassed!

no deets today: all supplies were provided by CAM

a time to relax

It's retirement time for a coworker and they're headed to the tropics to celebrate their first month of blissful retirement! I found a cute scrapbook with palm trees and was pleased to spot this last Jolee's boutique dimensional sticker when I went to a scrapbooking class this afternoon. I took it as a sign that it was meant to be!

stamps: n/a; paper: Be Blessed's Shalom DP, ColorMates' 2-color gold/ivory and textured coffee brown card stocks; ink: PC-generated sentiment; accessories: Jolee's boutique Florida dimensional stickers

life's truest happiness

I'm usually okay (and oftentimes prefer) lots of white space, but Friday's card wasn't working for me. I cut it apart and tried again ... twice, as it so happens. The first time I centered the sentiment, but the last penguin I stamped was missing a foot and skateboard, so I stamped it again, thinking I'd not moved the stamp-a-ma-jig ... NOT! OK, trashed that one, as it turned out to be a double-vision card. On my 2nd redeux, I decided to stamp the sentiment off-center, which I liked more, but I also smudged the penguins a bit. Sorry 'bout that! And I'd intended to pop up the penguins' bodies, which I'd stamped on white, over the baker's twine, but it looked TOO popped up, so the twine's now running across them. Sigh ... that's it, tho' ... I'm DONE w this one. So everything doesn't always work out they way I'd like ... I can live w that!

stamps: Fiskars' Friends Forever Quotes, savvy stamps' winter set; paper: Paper Reflections' black, SU's Pretty in Pink, Whisper White card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's Cameo Coral, Old Olive, and Ruby Red markers; accessories: The Twinery's Blossom baker's twine; tools: EK Success' Stamp-a-ma-jig

CAM, you've done it again!

On Saturdays you'll usually find me at CAM, participating in a make-'n-take project. They generally lead us in the making of a card or small 3D project, using supplies that they offer at a discounted rate to us that day. Once a month we work on a continuing project (last year it was a recipe book), and this year's is designed and presented by the lovely and talented Joyce. We're assembling a booklet of sorts, consisting of two-sided pocket pages in which we'll insert a tag and card themed for the month, all made from Basic Grey DP. And I LOVE Basic Grey DP! Count me in! We'll add a chip board cover and assemble them when we're done with all twelve months pocket pages. Here's today's pocket page project. Sweet, eh?!

No deets today; all supplies provided by CAM (where make-'n-takes are free to members, fee-based for others)

celebrate Penguin Awareness Day

I couldn't let an important day such as today's slip by without marking it by the making of a card, now, could I?! And this KINDA counts as a Valentine's Day card, don't you agree? Tonite's is a quick post as it's bedtime but I'll drop in again tomorrow! Maybe with a "before" and "after" version ...

thank you for being you

In an altered stamp camp project from some time in the past year, I switched this from landscape to portrait, removed additional white space, and mounted the remaining 3 flowers onto old olive card stock. There's another left over flower from the original design that I mounted on the inside of the card. These were interesting 2-part punches. We get to play with all the latest toys at stamp camps; it's half the fun of attending (the rest is getting together w my stamping buds for dinner and a crafty night out)!

no deets today; all supplies were provided in class

CCMC184 smooches

I made tonite's card based on a card sketch from the kind folkes at the Create with Connie & Mary blog. This is a pretty literal take on their sketch down to the crumb cake and very vanilla card stocks. I chose to use cherry cobbler for the hearts, bar next to the sentiment, and scalloped border ... no surprise there! The hearts are each embossed using a collection of QuicKutz GooseBumpz embossing dies that I'd amassed over the years. It was quicker using them for these small hearts than it would've been to pull out my Cuttlebug and embossing folders.

stamps: A Muse Artstamps' Smooches; paper: SU's Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, and Very Vanilla card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink; tools: ek success' Dotted Scallop border and Marvy Uchida's Jumbo Heart punches, QuicKutz's daisy, diamond, polka dot, sunburst, and sunshine embossing dies

my Wordle valentine

Since making this Blog Blast for Peace card last year, I'd fully intended to make Wordle a label on my blog and create a card for each holiday. Well, better late than never, right?! Here's my first one of 2012!

I created the card using Wordle's gnuolane free font and Kindled (w a little variation) color family on Staples' white and mounted it on SU's Cherry Cobbler card stocks. Easy peasy! I've not stamped an inside sentiment yet so deets are minimal.

Thanx for stopping by!

stamp camp fav

This past Thursday was Stamp Camp w the lovely and talented Angie (Jarman - link on my sidebar) and here's my fav card ... tho' as usual, it was hard to choose! Cherry Cobbler is my fav red and I can't get enough of it lately! We used some of the new Edgelits Dies and Textured Impressions Embossing Folders from the latest occasions mini catty in this stamp camp. This card could end up being the card I give my DH, so we didn't have our usual "show-'n-tell" after I returned home.

My stamping buddies Pat, Kim, and I supp'd at El Cozumel - YUM! - before heading to make cards and I brought home just a sampling of my dinner, a chicken fajita wrap w/o the sour cream but with medium salsa instead. I gave up on dipping it and eating it as its intended s'wich, and dumped the contents into my plate, minus the sour cream but with addition of medium salsa, and ate as a salad. Great stuff. Great cards. Great evening out w my buds!

I Used To Believe

I read a great post on The Lettered Cottage this a.m. about a site Layla ran across called I Used To Believe. It's a collection of funny and bizarre ideas that adults thought were true when they were children.

A sampling:
“Thunder is created because of the collision of clouds.” -Anonymous

“There is large factory in the largest city near my hometown that has an impressive smokestack. When I was little, I thought that the factory was where clouds came from.” -Anonymous

Want a fun trip down Memory Lane? Or to share one of yours? I just did!
My Mom used to set up our plastic bowling pin set in the long hallway in our house when it was storming, and when we heard thunder it was because an angel had bowled a strike (yeah, I believed her)! It was many years later I learned we bowled w the angels because she was frightened by storms.

CAM make-'n-take

If you were in the Flint MI area today and happened to stop by Capture-a-Memory, you were in for a treat as the lovely and talented Jill led the group in the making of this cute card, one of two projects for the weekend's make-'n-take session (they're held most Saturdays from 12-2 p.m.)!

The DP's two-sided, providing you a choice in your "bags," and even the dollar store tissue was stinkin' cute - it included slightly raised Christmas sayings. The store sample looked like it was two thicknesses of the cord braided, but I chose the single strand. I've not decided on a sentiment yet and will wait 'til it's called upon for a card to do that! We were provided chipboard and DP cut into rectangles, small squares of tissue, cord, and card stock cut to size. Easy peasy to recreate ... I'll be making lots more of these cuties! Thanx, Jill!

no deets today as all materials were provided by Jill

It's January 4th, and you know what THAT means ...

It's release day for SU's Occasions mini catalog! You can see it here (either click on the link of the word "here" or the catalog's picture).

I'm partial to the typewriter and the new valentine's sets. How 'bout you?

a year in review blog hop - blog candy winner

Random.org selected #17 and Cheryl of She Stamps blog fame is the winner of coordinated set of DP, chipboard, rub-ons and more from the kind folkes at piggy tales (from their 5 little ducks collection), and a Rhonna Farrer scribble hearts and stars stamp set in time for Valentine's Day stamping.

Cheryl said...

Wonderful cards! I love your style. I adore the card from March - simply gorgeous.
Wishing you a year of health, happiness and creativity! Happy New Year!

Cheryl, contact me at sue dot blondin at gmail dot com providing me your snail mail address and I'll ship your goodies off to you as soon as possible (gotta get me an empty pizza box first)! And happy new year to you and yours!

have a beautiful day, Mom!

We celebrated my Mom's b'day today at my sister Karen's house, and I realized that the paper I wrapped her present in matched my Cherry Cobbler card stock ... which was included in the great plaid used in the colorQ CQC116 challenge. I'd intended to make a plaid card using a new-to-me SU Perfect Plaid stamp set acquired recently so I made a card yesterday stamped on Crumb Cake, but decided this morning that the colors looked too muted so I made a plaid out of 1/4" strips of card stock. You can see a tiny bit of the prior card base below the card strip card. Want to know another thing I noticed as I stamped the inside sentiment? The font used in mftstamps' Framed Greetings set matches that used in the "Birthday hugs and wishes" stamp that's part of SU's Hugs & Wishes stamp set! How cool is that?!


stamps: mftstamps' Framed Greetings, PTI's Ripe Avocado, SU's Hugs & Wishes; paper: SU's Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Kiwi Kiss; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's Cherry Cobbler; accessories: SU's Cherry Cobbler seam binding; tools: mftstamps' Framed Greetings die and Cuttlebug