Friday, August 30, 2013

OWH Midweek Throwdown - Thank You!

Better late than never so I kept it simple!  I'll admit that the neighbor's maple leaves look a little better than mine, so I went over and collected a few for some color inspiration.  Good thing Sparky is a friendly dog!  For this card I used a stencil and distress inks to try to achieve the colors of the beautiful leaves.  Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!


  • Memory Box Cardstock - Sweet Corn
  • DCWV Mat Stack - Green
  • Ranger Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade
  • Sponge Daubers
  • Creative Imaginations Stencil of falling leaves
  • David Tutera Thank You embellishment
  • Recollections Maple Leaf Brad

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The First 29th Birthday

My niece is celebrating her first 29th birthday.  I have celebrated many of those!  Here's her card:



She likes shiny things so I decided to silver emboss the subway stamp and sparkler plus mount on pink glitter cardstock.  The picture really doesn't do this justice - It's definitely sparkly!  The sparkler is stamped and embossed inside a square window that I cut out with a EK Success square paper punch.  I debated about stamping a little cupcake in there but thought the sparkler screamed "Celebrate!". 

  • Neenah Solar White Cardstock
  • Pop Tones Black Licorice Cardstock
  • DCWV Glitter Stack
  • Impress Rubber Stamps - Birthday Subway Stamp & Sparkler Stamp
  • Versamark Dazzle Ink
  • PK Glitz Silver Embossing Powder
  • Silver & Black Cord from stash (Michaels, I think)

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Pawsitive Update #7 - Vacation!

Vacation!!  We recently took off for a few days to visit Sydney's cousin, Nikki, and her Mom.  Syd was packed and ready to go in two shakes of her little nubby tail.

 
 
Nikki is a beautiful Cavachon that loves to cuddle and relax on the patio.  She was the perfect hostess and we had a fabulous time!  
 
 
 If you're interested in watching big-eyed, puppy cuteness and learning more about the breed, check out the Cavachon video from Animal Planet's Dog 101 series. Love this dog! 


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

OWH Midweek Throwdown - Cards for Kids

Vroom...vroom!  Always enjoy making cards for kids!  This was a quick card to make - 10 minutes flat.  LOL - It will take 30 minutes to clean up the mess I made, but well worth it.


  • Neenah Solar White Cardstock
  • PaperZone Facets Cardstock - Sky Blue
  • Bazzill Basics Paper - Dotted Swiss
  • Stamps of Life "cars2drive" stamps and dies
  • Fiskars Cloud Punches
  • Copic Markers
  • Glossy Accents

Monday, August 19, 2013

On to Christmas...

I finished up the fall-themed cards for donating to OWH this weekend and will send them off on Monday.  There are so many fantastic sketches on OWH, it's hard to choose just one!  These were some of my favorites to work on...Thanks for looking!






Pawsitive Update #6

Happy 6th Birthday, Cody!  We'll be heading out for the birthday cheeseburger in about an hour.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Sunsets and Hugs

Another OWH fall-themed card last night!  This is so much fun I could easily do this full-time.  Note:  Before I could start, I had to clean up the fluffy stuffing all over the floor from Clifford (the dog toy).  There was a tug-of-war contest and poor Clifford lost.  RIP Clifford.

This card uses one of the sweet silhouette stamps from Rubber Stampede.  I love how you can really do whatever you want with the background.  This couple has sat on a boat, watched Easter Bunny tryouts in a field, sat in front of a Christmas tree, and had many other adventures.  Thanks for looking!



  • Memory Box Cardstock - Squash
  • Paper Zone Cardstock - Dark Chocolate
  • DCWV patterned paper from stash
  • Rubber Stampede "Best Friends" stamp
  • The Rubber CafĂ© "Fabulous Phrases" Cling Mount Stamps
  • Stephanie Barnard Colorbox Ink - Chocolate
  • Spellbinders Circle Dies
  •  Inkadinkado Soft Tones Blending Chalks


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

OWH Midweek Throwdown - Friendship Cards

My first "Throwdown!"  I hope I get this right!  I'm new to Operation Write Home AND new to blogging...so much to learn, so little time!  When OWH posted this Throwdown for friendship cards, I immediately thought of this sentiment from Stamps of Life.  I have not used it in quite a while and thought this would be perfect for an OWH card.  Thanks for looking! 



  • Neenah Solar White Cardstock
  • Pop Tone Black Licorice Cardstock
  • Ranger Distress Ink - Lemonade - Heat Embossed
  • Heidi Swapp Stencil
  • Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix) Labels, Ornate #3
  • Stamps of Life "messages4friends"
  • Twine from The Twinery

Time for Fall Cards?

Nooooo!  I can't believe that it's time to create Fall-themed cards.  Especially when it's 80+ degrees outside but here we go.  I usually start my Halloween cards in September but August??  Operation Write Home has put the word out to send in Fall-themed cards now for our heroes so I will rise to the occasion.  It was actually a nice change to pull out the Fall colored cardstock and the warm ink colors.  And I even found some gorgeous fall patterned paper that I had bought last year!  Bring on the rake...I just noticed that the maple tree in the backyard has dropped a few leaves already!

 
  • Stamps of Life Cardstock in Pumpkin and Tangerine
  • Stamps of Life "mums2stamp" flowers and sentiment
  • Stephanie Barnard's ColorBox ink in Pumpkin and Tangerine
  • Twine from The Twinery

Pawsitive Update #5

What's wrong with this picture?


I'll tell you...

This beautiful ornamental grass is half eaten.  Last year it was twice this size.  This year it's very sad looking with over half of the beautiful long grass strands chewed off.  Is there a goat in the backyard?  Yes, there is, and his name is Cody. 



He was busted today as he was happily nibbling away.  I guess he craved a salad for lunch.  The true giveaway was the 12 inch strand of grass hanging out of his mouth as he ran to the door to greet me!  After our discussion, he retreated to the living room for a little nap but he didn't want me to know what he was doing.  You know what they say, "If I can't see you, you can't see me!" 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Sending Love to OWH

FINALLY I sent a small batch of love-themed cards to Operation Write Home this week.   

 
 
The plan was to pick a sketch and mass produce 4 cards.  I just can't do it...I tweak, change color schemes, and play with new techniques and products as I create.  Oh well...maybe that's why it's such a relaxing hobby for me.  It's also probably why I can't make a card in 10 minutes either!
 
 
  
This card ended up being my favorite.  I loved the softness of the ink color and really enjoyed the frame doodling.  The Summer 2013 issue of Take Ten Magazine's article on "Color Squared" featuring Heather Patterson inspired the doodling.  Her "coloring outside the lines" design adds a fun element to a simple focal point. 
 
  • Neenah Solar White Cardstock
  • Stamps of Life Cardstock in Celery
  • Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
  • Stephanie Barnard's ColorBox inks in Licorice and Celery
  • Hero Arts stamps
  • Black beading cord and button brad  

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Pawsitive Update #4

This was a weekend to clean up the craft room after a cardmaking marathon one night last week.  You know, pick up the paper off the floor, put ink away, etc.  After picking up after myself, I decided that my cardmaking team needed some cleaning too.  Levi & Sydney went off to the spa for much needed haircuts, nail grinding, and overall grooming.  I decided Sadee & Cody would go on a little adventure with me this morning to the self-service dog wash I noticed on the way home the other day.  They are very big, furry Labradors and plugging up my bathtub is not an attractive option.  So...this seemed like a good idea at the time although a shower cap (for me) was not provided.



After serious furminating with the Furminator (I wish I had invented this handy grooming tool :-), the tokens went in the machine and we were off and running - literally.  Ten minutes for $8.00 is not enough time!  Shampoo - Rinse - Condition - Rinse - Gentle Dry - Super Duper Dry - Cleaning/Antiseptic Rinse for tub.   Cody is crying like a 75 lb. baby the entire time  and shaking like a furry belly dancer.  Sadee is sitting on her butt in the tub and refuses to stand up.  I felt like I was in a car wash with the windows down.  After adding more tokens, we finally made it through.  Then I had to mop up their floor and blow dry myself off.  Although we left pretty pooped out 2 hours later, I am a much happier camper with two sweet smelling Labs.  They can now re-enter the craft room!