Valentine for my Sweetie

I may be done with Christmas cards. It depends on how many I sell at the Craft Market I am attending tomorrow. 

So I have been doing some Valentines. I found this swet couple digital image at Whimsy Stamps. I colored it with Stampin' Blends.

The heart E/F is Cuttlebug. The sentiment is via computer. Two strips of polka dot paper from the scrap pile.  I cut the image with a stitched die from Pink & Main. 3 punched glitter red stamped hearts for some bling.

Inside is the rest of the computer sentiment and a stamped message from SU.

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Merry ChristMoose

The Card Concept blog is challenging us to make rustic holiday cards. I think a moose says country and rustic. Here is my clean and layered rustic card cased from one found on Pintrest

I used SU Real Red for the card base and added a strip of Old Olive. Then ran some Kraft paper through the corrugated roller. The tree is an old SU die cut. After cutting it I put it through a Sixxiz E/F to add some texture. The moose is an SU retired punch done with a scrap of red/green plaid. Adding more rustic is the raffia tied around the Kraft paper. The tag and sentiment are also SU

This is the inspiration photo from The Card Concept

I used the colors and achieved the rustic. But the horses in the picture got changed to a moose.

Also entering at Cardz 4 Guyz with the prompt to use gingham, checks, or plaid. My plaid is on the moose.

Elf on the Shelf

Elf on the Shelf came after my kids were grown. My grandkids do enjoy the tradition. Now the teenagers move the Elf for their little sister.  I think Mom is relieved about that because she kept forgetting. 

Every Christmas card collection needs at least one Elf card.

I used some scrap pieces of paper. The Elf is from Recollections. I stamped, colored and die cut it, then posed him on a circle that was lightly sponged with pale blue. The sentiment is from SU Itty Bitty Christmas.

I am using the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Honor and Remembrance

November 11 in USA is Veteran's Day, a day to thank, honor, and remember our veterans. Inspired by the laying of poppy wreath's in London, I have a thank you card for all the past and present service personnel.

 The poppy pattern is from retired SU's Peaceful Poppies. The sentiment banner is also SU. I didn't want to detract from those beautiful poppies so just used the sentiment banner and elevated it on foam tape.

Inside, I did a row of poppies from the same SU bundle.

The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches

Bringing Home the Tree

 That is what I am calling it. The real name is "Truckin' Santa Paws", the new digital stamp of the month from Imagine That Digistamp. Enlarge the picture to see those cute critters loading up their tree for the trip home.

I used the colorized version of the digistamp and sized it at about 2 1/2 ". That image is then cut to 3' x 2" and backed with a gray which matches the truck. The SU Garden Green background paper is embossed with a forest of trees, an SU E/F. I lightly sponged on some white to look like snow on the trees. The word dies are in a box of several word dies that I didn't label. They are cut from silver sparkle paper and layered with a couple of black layers. The snowflakes a Martha Stewart punch in the same silver sparkle paper.

Inside greeting is an SU stamp. After stamping, I used the same E/F. You may need to enlarge to see that. With the textured paper, it might be hard to do a signature on this half but I can always use the top half to write a little note and sign.

Here is a view of the complete digistamp set which comes with some cute sayings.

I chose to change up the sentiment so I could enter the word week challenge at Just Us Girls

Valentine Paper

Okay, okay, I know what you are thinking. Valentine's already? I am in a ladies group at my church who plan to send Valentine's to our nursing home and shut in people. I volunteered to make the cards for them. Better get started since I need 40. 

 I purchased a paper share from SU's Mini Catalogue. There are a few DSPs in the catalogue that are not Christmas. You probably wouldn't think of Blackberry Bliss DSP as Valentines but this background paper works well.

The heart paper and polka dots are from the scrap box. I think of lace when making Valentine's so used a Fiskar border punch to make a lacy edge on the heart paper. 

The LOVE die cut is from Marianne Design. It reminds me of a sculpture by Robert Indiana. This is the one at Indiana University. Next time I'll try snipping off the "O" and put it at an angle. 

Inside the card, I did a computer sentiment and then lightly stamped a heart from SU's retired Hearts Aflutter.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches 

I actually made 2 other cards with this sketch and posted them earlier in the week but forgot to link up to Tuesday Morning Sketches. You can see them here

More Poppies

I've been using up the last few papers from SU's Painted Poppies--now retired. One sheet of the paper has really large flowers. Cutting it into 4x5 1/2 portions would not adequately showcase the flowers. So I fussy cut them. to use as focal points.

The background is another design of the same DSP. Behind the blossom is a section of ombre green which is the reverse side of one of the papers. Accenting behind the blossom is a red polka dot paper from the scrap box. The sentiment is an old one now unlabled, stamped and fussy cut.

Inside, I did a computer made sentiment and another blossom trimmed down to fit the corner.

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Thaksgiving

 I thought I was done with fall and thanksgiving cards but then the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge #283 this week is "Leaves".  This is my masculine Thanksgiving card.

The background paper is SU's Nature's Poem DSP. The wood planks is from the scrap box. I have a whole bag of "wood" paper scraps, I don't remember who makes this one. The chevron is also from the scraps--maybe the same Nature's Poem DSP? The wood slab and leaves (die cut) are from SU's Rooted in Nature set. To cover the stems, I added a raffia bow. Men can have bows too, right? Especially if they are a natural element. The sentiment is from an old set and punched out with an SU label punch.

In addition to Cardz 4 Guyz, I am posting to The Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe challenge using the upper row, ribbon/twine, circle, die cut

Also Just Us Girls challenge who also has leaves as a challenge

While I was working with this sketch, I made a feminine version also using up some of the last pieces of Peaceful Poppies DSP