Birthdays and Showers

Good morning, everyone!  I'm attempting a bit of a first for me - simultaneously playing with the toddler and posting on the blog.. so we shall see how this goes!  I have so many cards I want to share with you - but some I am still waiting to give out, so only two today.

This first card was made for my husband's cousin.  It features the Balloon Celebration stamp set from Stampin' Up, as well as the Number of Years Stamp Set and matching Framelits.  So handy for birthdays, as you can just make any number you need.  I personalized the card with the Alphabet Rotary Stamp - Stampin' Up now has a new set in their catalogue that is somewhat similar to the Rotary Stamp if you missed out on this one from the last catalogue.

This card was made for a young lady whose bridal shower I attended this past Sunday.  The invite I received had yellow and blue flowers and things featured on it, so I just played off of that using the Petite Petals stamp set and coordinating punch.  I used a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge in the background, and the sentiment is from the retired Rain or Shine set.  I also put some bling on in the form of rhinestone gems.

Hope you enjoy these cards, and your day as well.  I feel like hanging out in the basement all day - heat wave! <3 JEM

Birthdays

Good evening, everyone!  I'll be the first to admit that since our first child was born, I've been slipping a bit on getting birthday cards out to people.  I either forget until it's too late, or I'm just tired and busy and have no crafting time.  I'm trying to be better about that!  I guess we will see how long that lasts once baby number two arrives.  Good intentions, at least!

This first card features Stampin' Up's Birthday Celebration stamp set.  I CASEd (Copy And Share Everything) the idea from a similar card on Pinterest, only I didn't have enough gold glitter paper, so I used silver and silver embossing powder as well.  The balloons were stamped on watercolor paper, and then colored with Stampin' Write markers.  I quickly applied water with my Aqua Painters.  This was pretty tricky for me.  I felt without a doubt that I had ruined all of the balloons, as you could see marker lines and it just looked pretty awful.  But the watercolor paper came through and saved the day.  As they dried, the balloons became much more beautiful, and I was very happy that I didn't have to throw out all that precious paper.  Next time I think I will just try the ink pads/refills and paint in the watercolor style, I just really wanted to use Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight and I own neither of those ink pads.  The other colors used here are Pool Party and Rich Razzleberry.

This next card is another Pinterest CASE with a modified sentiment.  I'm ashamed to say that although I love the Lighthearted Leaves set from Stampin' Up, this was the first time I'd actually opened the package.  Something else I need to work on, I suppose!  Anyway, the leaves were stamped with Memento Black ink, and then colored in with Stampin' Write Markers.  I used Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, and the very retired Lucky Limeade.  I will always be sad every time I use that color, as I have the ink pad, but lost the reinker somewhere in the shuffle of moving a few years ago.  I'll probably cry when it dries up for good.  Anyway, the sentiment featured is from the That Thing You Did stamp set that I believe is retiring at the end of May.  

Hope you enjoyed these cards - I'm off to bed! <3 JEM

Cat Butts...

Happy Friday, all!  Tonight I have something totally different for you.  For my sister's birthday, I decided to make her some cat butt coasters.  She had shown me the picture on Pinterest a while back, and I thought they were pretty awesome!  I made 2 in each color, gray and black for the cats she does have, and one variegated for some contrast.  I found a great pattern on Ravelry that explained things perfectly and they turned out great.  Enjoy! <3 JEM

Something New...

Good afternoon, everyone!  I have four cards to share with you today.  This first card accompanied gifts that we gave to our parents for watching our child while we were away performing at a music festival.  It features the Petite Petals stamps and coordinating punch from Stampin' Up, and the sentiment is from the Letterpress Winter set from a few years back.  The paper used is Calypso Coral card stock, and some designer series paper in Crisp Cantaloupe. 

This card was for my sister's birthday.  I was a little bit apprehensive about making it at first, as I don't do a lot of watercoloring, and with stencils at that - but I love how it turned out!  I used the Alphabet Rotary stamp for the sentiment, and the inks Night of Navy and Lost Lagoon.

This next card is a special order from a friend.  It's actually pretty large - 5.5" by 8.5"!  I definitely learned my lesson making this card - always test out your stamps the moment you receive them. I discovered a flaw in one of the stamps in the set, so while I'm waiting for a replacement I had to use my own stamps for the sentiment, which took a lot longer since it's an alphabet set.  So just imagine that all of these stamps are from the Number of Years set and you'll get the idea.  The purple paper is from a booklet of papers my hubby gave me for our first anniversary - it pairs perfectly with Rich Razzleberry ink.  There is also a subtle shimmer on the numbers 75, using the Wink of Stella glitter brush in clear.

And this last card I made just yesterday for my hairdresser.  She's getting married, and since she's been cutting my hair for the past 16 years, I figured I should make her a card!  None of these papers or ribbon is from Stampin' Up, but it features the sets Off the Grid, For the New Two, and the Something Lacy background stamp on the hearts.  I also loved using my sewing machine for this card - especially the slightly rustic look it gives.  Hope she likes it!

Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone!  <3 JEM

Birthday Stamp Camp!

Hey, everybody!  Here are the cards we made at today's stamp camp - all birthdays today!  This first card is a good one for a kid.  It makes use of the stamp set Thankful Forest Friends, and the sentiment is from the Balloon Celebration set in the 2016 Stampin' Up Occasions catalogue.  Balloon Celebration is such a versatile set - I'm so happy I picked it up.

This next card makes use of the Balloon Celebration stamp set as well.  It coordinates with a matching punch for the balloons, which makes it so easy! 

The next card is another child's card - perhaps a little younger than the first one!  I did use some retired product for this card, but you can easily substitute the Designer Series Paper and embellishments for anything new!  The flower is from the Floral Framelits dies, and I used the Owl Punch, as well as the Top Note Bigz die in this card.

This next card was our masculine card for the day.  Everyone always seems to have trouble with ideas for the man-cards :) I made use of the retired Pinwheel Die, and used the Paper Piercing Pack for the circles behind the banners.  You can pierce as many or as few circles as you like!

This final card was something new for Stamp Camp - we did a shaker card!  This features the Party Pants stamp set that was part of Sale-A-Bration this year.  Super cute and flexible!

Oh, and here's a bonus card that we didn't make today.  It's one I made for my brother-in-law's birthday this year.  Also features the Balloon Celebration set, and the sentiment is from the Butterfly Basics stamp set.  Hope you enjoyed! <3 JEM

My First Paper Pumpkin Kit!

Hey everyone, hope you're enjoying this simply gorgeous weather we are having!  I can't believe it's only April and so warm already... 

Anyway, when I joined Stampin' Up as a demonstrator last August, they included a free Paper Pumpkin kit for me to try out.  If you haven't heard of these, they are a monthly kit that you sign up for (as many or as few months as you wish), and then you receive a little surprise in the mail to put together!  Comes with all the ink, stamps, and other supplies that you will need to have a little crafting adventure.  Pretty fun deal, if you ask me.  So, I finally put mine together and thought I would share it with you.

On a side note, we upgraded our computer this week and I totally detest the new Photos app.  It won't show me my original files in the finder, and when I try to open Gimp to put on my watermark, it just keeps crashing.  So if anyone has any ideas on how to fix this, please let me know.  I'm a bit grumpy that I just wasted almost an hour trying to get things to work.

Enough complaining!! Here are the cards!  They came with cute little individual holders with twine.  Let me know which one is your favorite!  <3 JEM

Anniversary, Wedding, and Sympathy Cards

Hello, everyone!  4 cards for you today.  This first one is one I made for my hubby for our 5th anniversary.. Seriously, where has the time gone?!  I used Bermuda Bay for color here, with the Something Lacy background stamp, and stamps and dies from the Butterfly Basics kit.

This next card is one I gave to a friend at her wedding shower - we used to work at the library together way back in the day - so happy for her! The border stamp is from the Sale-a-Bration Hello stamp set.  The larger butterfly die is actually cut from wax paper!  It was a leftover I had hanging around and couldn't bear to throw it out.

This card was a special order from a friend for this same shower!  I actually made both cards for my customer and let her choose the one she wanted to give.  It features the Sale-a-Bration stamp set Pedal Pusher, which is so lovely and versatile.  The ribbon is from the 2016 Occasions catalogue - the Pool Party sparkly ribbon.

And finally, a sadly needed sympathy card for an acquaintance whose daughter passed away from cancer, leaving behind a young child.  This card uses the Sale-a-Bration set Flowering Fields, which I embossed in Whisper White craft ink and then colored in with my Stampin' Write Markers.  The dandelions blowing in the wind are from the Balloon Celebration stamp set in the 2016 Occasions catalogue.

Hope you enjoyed these cards! <3 JEM