A new technique...

This is one of the beautiful cards Crystal showed us how to make at my Stampin' Up card club meeting last Thursday. It's called Stained Glass and it's made using vellum for the main stamped image. We had a lot of fun at the party and I reached the third level of hostess gifts, which means I got a LOT of hostess gifts and products! I almost exhausted my wish list, which is OK, because the new SU catalog will be out in January. I can't wait to create a new list. This weekend Katy and Cindy are coming over to make Christmas cards and I'm sure we will have a great time and make some beautiful cards.

I didn't make this one...

I didn't make this one...but my friend Katy made it for my birthday! I love this card! The colors are perfect together, and it's so cute. Katy keeps saying she is not creative enough to come up with good card ideas, but this card proves her wrong! Keep up the wonderful work, Katy. And, thanks again for such a lovely birthday card.

Another Elzybell

Here is another card I made with my new Elzybell stamps. I thought this pink-spotted background paper was perfect for this card. The sentiment is a sticker, and I used a white Souffle marker to emboss the snow and the trim on her outfit. I think these stamps are the cutest I've seen in a long time!

Elzybells

Woo Hoo! I finally found time to play with my Elzybell stamps! My dear friend Katy came over today to stamp with me in my studio. We had a great day and I made a couple of cards with my new Elzybell stamps. Here is the first one. I used Stampin' Up watercolor crayons to color the image. I also used my Gelly Roll shiny gel pen to color some of the snowflakes in the background.

Marine Corps Birthday

Did you know that November 10th is the Marine Corps Birthday? This year the Marines will be 232 years old. Being married to a Marine who is a Vietnam War veteran has taught me a lot about the history of the Marines. The Corps first started celebrating the birthday 84 years ago. In 1923 the Marine Barracks at Ft. Mifflin, Pennsylvania, staged a formal dance. The Marines at the Washington Navy Yard arranged a mock battle on the parade ground. At Quantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Marine baseball team played a Cuban team and won, 9 to 8.
The first "formal" Birthday Ball took place on Philadelphia in 1925. First class Marine Corps style, all the way! Guests included the Commandant, the Secretary of War (in 1925 the term "politically correct" didn't exist; it was Secretary of War, not Secretary of Defense), and a host of statesmen and elected officials. Prior to the Ball, Gen. Lejeune unveiled a memorial plaque at Tun Tavern. Then the entourage headed for the Benjamin Franklin Hotel and an evening of festivities and frolicking.
Over the years the annual Birthday Ball grew and grew, taking on a life of its own. In 1952 the Commandant, Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr., formalized the cake-cutting ceremony and other traditional observances. For example, Marine Corps policy now mandates that the first piece of cake must be presented to the oldest U.S. Marine present. The second piece goes to the youngest Marine. Among the many such mandates is a solemn reading of the Commandant's birthday message to the Corps.
Like the U.S. Marine Corps itself, the annual Birthday Ball has evolved from simple origins to the polished and professional functions of today. Nonetheless, one thing remains constant, the tenth day of November! This unique holiday for warriors is a day of camaraderie, a day to honor Corps and Country. Throughout the world on 10 November, U.S. Marines celebrate the birth of their Corps -- the most loyal, most feared, most revered, and most professional fighting force the world has ever known.

Veteran's Day

This is a card I made for one of the veterans in my life. It's always nice to remember the sacrifices they made to keep us safe. Veteran's Day is the perfect time to say "Thank You!" to our fighting men and women.

Stamp Club

This is one of the cards we made at our October Stamp Club meeting at Bonnie's house. I decided to "sparkle it up" a bit, so I used my Gelly Roll gel pen to trace the snowflakes. I really like the effect the gel pen adds.

I have been really sick with a horrible sinus infection, and can't wait to feel better again. I need to start making my Thanksgiving and Christmas cards real soon. Can you believe it is already November?

The other Halloween card

This is the other card I made for Halloween. I love this pumpkin paper. The cool ribbon I used on both cards is from Michael's. I'm pretty pleased with this card, too! I kind of cheated on the brads - they are not really brads at all. Since I had already punched the corners of the patterened paper and didn't want the brads to show on the inside of the card, I punched circles out of scrap cardstock and attached them with glue dots. Then, I used a little Liquid Glass (Close To My Heart) to add dimension to the 1/4" circles, and make them look like brads.

Halloween Card

For this card, I used Glitter Candy Corn from the Heidi Grace Jeepers Creepers Collection. I just love this paper. I don't usually make Halloween cards, but since I get a few cute homemade cards from my daughters every year, I decided to give it a shot. I really like the way this one turned out!

Punch Card class

Yesterday was our Punch Card class with Crystal. We made five different cards (two of each) and I really liked all of them. My favorite has to be this beautiful pumpkin card. We made the pumpkin with the Stampin' Up large oval punch and the stem with the small oval punch. The middle three sections of the pumpkin are popped up for effect. It is so cute and it was very easy to make. Keep up the great designs and wonderful classes Crystal!

Sympathy card

Hello! Here is my latest creation. It is a sympathy card for my friend Katy. I just love the patterned paper on this one. Green is one of my two favorite colors, so I think this is one of my favorite cards. I have more to post later from our latest card class.

Christmas card class

Hello out there! It's been a while since I've posted! My daughter Dawn and her significant other, Liev, have been visiting for the past week (from Tacoma, WA), and we have been very busy catching up and having fun. Sadly, they are leaving today.

Also, I was finally called back to work last week! Yeah! They found the funds to pay me for the year, so I am back! I love my job and the paychecks are nice to get, too.

I did manage to find time to attend Crystal's Christmas card class last week and we made some beautiful cards. My favorite is pictured here.

Make-n-Take

Today Katie and I went to a great shop in Waterford called Jane's Craft Studio. I had ordered some adorable AMuse stamps, and they came in, so we had to go pick them up! As it happened, the store had a cute make-n-take using AMuse stamps for us to do while we were there. Here is a photo of the card we made this morning.

They also had all of their Hero Arts stamps on sale for 40% off, and a lot of new Fall and Christmas stamps had recently arrived. We spent a lot of time browsing and saw many cool card samples. Now that I have my new stamps, I can't wait to get creative once again!

My second favorite...

This is another card we made at the Stamp-Camp last week. It is a close second to my favorite card pictured below. I really love Crystal's ideas for the classes she teaches. Our next class isn't until the end of September, but I can hardly wait.

My Stamp-Camp favorite

Hello! I attended Crystal's latest Stamp-Camp last Friday and I decided that this card is my favorite of the five we made that night. The colors are great together and in "Sooo pretty" as my friend Sue would say!

More alcohol ink

This one has beautiful colors in it and is a close second in my favorite catagory. I tried this technique at a Shop-Hop make & take a couple of years ago and bought some of the inks after that event. I haven't used them yet, and needed a refresher on how to get this beautiful effect. The class was just what I needed; plus we learned several more tips from Karen during the class.

Alcohol Inks

I took a class with my good friend Katy last night, and I love the technique we learned. We used alcohol inks and krylon markers to create three beautiful cards. The class was at Karen's Creative Stamping in Burton, and we had a lot of fun. This is my favorite card from the class.

Littls Boy's Tee Shirt

I picture my little grandson, Nicholas in this shirt! I love the colors and the little brown buttons at the top. Straight edges and sleeves make this one for the little boys! I think this pattern is very versatile, in that it could be used for shirts for any age, with only a few minor changes.

Little Girl's Tee Shirt

I made this pattern after seeing a tee shirt card in a magazine. I just love it! I have many patterned papers that will work well with this. The sleeves and bottom are cut with scalloped scissors, which is why I call it a girl's tee shirt.

My Latest Creation

I love this card! I saw a purse shaped card at my friend Crystal's house and wanted to make one! I made a pattern for the card and this is what came to be! The smaller photo shows what is inside the card. I used a marbled, shiny paper that I found at Capture-a-Memory in Flint. The flower inside is colored in with Glaze markers. The purse handle is Offray ribbon. I picture making many more of these cards using some of the double-sided cardstock I have in my stash. (This card fits in a regular card envelope, too!) Now, I'm off to my studio - many other patterns are lurking in my brain!

Monique's card

This one was very hard for me to do! My daughter Monique has moved to Tacoma, WA to be closer to her twin sister, Dawn. Monique has a new job and is starting a new life there. I already miss her so much. From here in Michigan, it seems like Washington is half-way across the world! We wish her the best and send our love.

Peggy's new house

My sister and brother-in-law bought a new home, and I made this card for them. (I think it arrived in the mail today, so I can post it here now.) I love the nest! I cut some brown fibers to make it and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

QuicKutz class

Today I went to a QuicKutz class and this is the card I made. I love it! The recipe is great, and I will use it again. My good buddies Sue, Pat and Katy also attended the class and we had a great time. Later this week I am taking an Alcohol Ink class with Pat, and we will make three cards. If all goes well, I will post them here.

Krystal's card

It's been a while since I made a card or posted to this site - I have been busy! Here is the latest card I made for my niece Krystal's birthday. I plan to make lots more cards in the next few weeks before I return to work, after Labor Day.

Swimming Lessons

This past week I have been quite busy taking two munchkins to swimming lessons. My granddaughter Madison, and my daughter-in-law's niece, Kennedy have been learning the basics of swimming. The girls are best friends, and we even managed a sleep-over this week. We had lots of fun and even had some visitors at class. Both Madison's mom, Sherrie and Aunt Monique came to watch the girls swim. Next week some more of the aunts will visit the girls' class.

Another Birthday Card

My brother Craig loves fishing, so I thought a "Fish" theme would be great for his birthday card. Here it is! The inside has a small fish and says "Best Fishes!"

Birthday Cards

This is the latest birthday card. I made four of them to have on hand. I love this stamp set! It's called "Eat Cake" and it's by Stampin' Up.

Kid's Birthday Card

Here is my latest creation. It is a birthday card for a child. I love the "Wild About You" stamp set from Stampin' Up! Click on the image to get a close up view.

Inchie Swap

Here are my first inchies! I made them for a swap with the Altered Book group. I'll take a photo of the 20 I get back from this swap and post it here.

Thank you card

Here is a recent card I made as part of a set of cards for my daughter.