Our Personal Christmas Cards

This was such a wonderful Paper Pumpkin kit for October. It was supposed to make eight cards but I stretched it to sixteen...

This was my favorite! I turned four into eight. I really love the layout and I can see it working for many other cards. Let's see if I actually ever get around to CASEing this elsewhere. You know me... the speed demon! LOL
 

The kit came with words in other languages that I will never use. I watched a video of a woman who used those other words to be an embellishment under the wreath. How freakin' clever is that!! 

These now need matching envelopes so that's next on my agenda before they go postal. Merry Christmas peeps and may the holidays hold all the joy you wish... 

FUN in Minnesota...

 

I went to visit and craft with my friend Annie in Minnesota last month from September 9th until the 15th. Barb from Wisconsin joined us. Both women I have known for years beginning with Operation Write Home and now in a mutual group on Facebook. Finally, we were able to get together and craft. Not only did I learn many different techniques from the both of them but we ate like kings. The food was absolutely PHENOMENAL!!

We made many, many backgrounds with the Gelli-plate and acrylic paints which later became cards. I drew the buildings on the green background and added black die-cuts to the brown one.

I was not a fan of the red heart background at first but we had a challenge to use the stamp set with the dog and he just "works" on that card... who knew?! The card with these houses was probably one of my most favorite techniques from the week. I cut apart many different monoprints to create the houses and I'm mad crazy about the result. 

I hand drew the tulips OVER some water-colored Distress Oxides. What a wicked cool effect! The sunflower was drawn thru a stencil and then colored. Another cool effect...

The houses is a stamp of Annie's that was stamped on top of a monoprint. SIMPLE!! And two slimline cards...

We worked with Annie's collection of Art Impressions and Tombow markers to create the scenes and Barb's Gina K set over the Distress Oxide oval. I was delighted with all the cards I made while there and after I returned. I don't know why but, I'm ALWAYS more productive with friends than I am by myself. I couldn't have done it without you ladies!  SOOOOO, when are we doing this again??? I'm ready today. Just sayin'... 

August Birthday Challenges in Seongsook's Stampers...

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Seongsook's Stampers! They celebrate five years together. There were twelve challenges to be completed during the entire month, of which I completed eight. One is missing from this photograph, the "inchies" one. I have NO IDEA where or why that has disappeared...

This was the first one I did, the Spotlight technique sponsored by Jill. I'm a little shocked at how much it faded since the beginning of the month. And no, it wasn't sitting in the sun! I have the original picture on my phone but have no idea how to upload it to this blog post. AND, I don't remember what medium I used. Whatever it is, I don't think I ever want to use it again. Less than a month and it's faded? Not good...

UPDATE 10-2-20 Recolored it before sending out...

This challenge was to use two stencils in the card design, sponsored by Maxine...

This challenge was to use a sketch that was supplied AND a positive affirmation, sponsored by Shannon. The center piece is a leftover from a card I made, probably eight years ago... yikes!

This was a pretty cool technique, feature a picture you have taken, sponsored by Lily. I loved how this came out but I don't think it's a "sendable" card anymore. Both April and May are gone...

This one was use ribbon, sponsored by Christine...

This one was "make a Christmas card using something not traditionally on a Christmas card", sponsored by Ann. I choose fall colors. I really like it! Who'd a thunk it?

This one was to use at least four different stamps to frame your sentiment, sponsored by Connie. I used my wreath builder by Gina K. and ended up using six different stamps from the Mandela collection in all the rainbow colors. I received this set from a pen pal last year and really don't know why I don't use it more often. It's wicked AWESOME!

So, very fun! And so much inspiration. I'd like this all to go postal within the next couple days. Well, except the Christmas card... LOL Anyway, which one is coming YOUR way?

Updated 9-8-20 FOUND IT!! 

Random Cards...

A fellow card maker, Dolores, made a similar card like this a several weeks ago and I asked for the directions. Here's what she shared... 

Take scraps of paper that are 3.5" long and cut at an angle (don't measure). Cut your coordinating cardstock 3" x 5". Start at one edge, glue your first piece down. When you glue the next piece, leave a space. If you had the wider side at the top, put it at the bottom this time. Continue across and don't worry about overhang. When the bottom cardstock is full, trim the edges. Cut one inch off the long side. You'll now have two pieces, one is 1" x 5" and the other is 2" x 5". Assemble your card as it appears above.

This card went postal on June 1st...

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This card was made for Christopher for his 20th birthday. I was CASEing my own creation from January 2nd which was in red's. I made three more LIKE this which are on my Instagram post of 6-17-20. On those, I added a circular birthday die under the straight white one. Looks cool...

This was my Father's Day card, put together quickly because the day snuck up on me...

Sent as a thank you for the Designer Series paper I received from Wilda on June 15th...

So, here it is, two months later and I'm back to edit and publish this post. HOWEVER, it appears there's been a change at Blogger that is not as user friendly as the previous version. If that is the case, this may be my last blog post. This makes me sad since I've used this as a diary of most of my card making escapades since December of 2011. For some, change is good. For me, not so much...

DSP Peaceful Poppies...

 I received, as a gift, the Designer Series Paper pack by Stampin' Up from fellow crafter Wilda. I can't even express how lovely this paper is in person. In relatively quick order, I was able to put the above cards together AND make matching envelopes with my Gelli-plate. I'm pretty happy with the results...

A sad necessity... 

 It IS really hard to let the paper do ALL the work...

Now that these are finished, it's time to get some postal...

Crayon Resist Technique...

 A fellow card maker posted all the birthday cards she had received and I saw one that intrigued me. When I asked about it, I learned it was the Crayon Resist Technique that Gina K had revived from years ago in one of her recent videos. SOOO, I tried it... and as you can see, got addicted! The first one I did was the horizontal one in the far left with the different sentiment.

 THEN, I went vertical. This stamp set, from Tim Holtz, has been sitting next to my desk for literally three months waiting to be used. This particular layout finally seemed to scream, "USE ME!"... so I did. I used a white crayon to color in the butterfly then three shades of Distress Oxides over the that. The ripping was the BEST part! I did mount the whole panel with foam tape but only did that with the blues. My foam tape is near the end (a PRECIOUS has been ordered)...

 I wanted these three to have a summery feel so used another three Distress Oxides in the yellow family...

Finally, I had this idea of red and black with a gray background. It didn't do what my head said it would as the gray muted the black of the butterfly but it's still pretty. The final of this set, I actually DIDN'T use any ink on the background. You can see it in the top photo. 

The absolute best part of this card making escapade is that I quickly came up with nine cards for my severely depleted stash. After I send out the cards I've been wanting to send, it'll be depleted again. BUT... happy mail is on it's way again!

Birthday Cards Received...

 These are the birthday cards I received from the peeps in Seongsook's Stampers. I was tickled pink when Seongsook made it the banner header for the week of May 17 thru the 24th...

She also used my photo as an inspiration for a challenge. The challenge was to make a card following a layout of any of the cards in the banner. I choose these three. The one in the middle, I actually made three of using a butterfly that has been floating around my stash for several years. SOOOO happy to see them get used...

Transformation Butterfly...

When Laurie Susen visited at the beginning of March (so we could attend the TON retreat in New York City together), she stamped me three of these images from the set she had purchased. On April 7th, I finally colored them. I did not have the die so I used my Scan and Cut to cut them.

I did not have the courage to cut off the part that hangs over an A2 card so the Ernman made me special envelopes (seen on the far left). They are under weight and still under size so the postage should not be any different...

I asked in one of my cardmaking groups about what I should do for the background. Unanimously, it seemed to be, "make it white". OMG! They definitely nailed it! This card is GORGEOUS, if I do say so myself. I dry embossed the white, popped that whole layer with foam tape, did glossy accents on the butterfly body and two parts of the wing, wink of Stella on the gold flower and flat red sequins around the outside...

But now, there's only THREE to send... boooo! I'd send one to everyone! :)

Previous Cards from Album...

 That photo album in the mid-lower right of this picture with the Operation Write Home business card in the cover, I used to carry around with me to show random people some of the cards I had made in the past. I haven't shared this in YEARS so I was thinking it was time to take them out, put them on card-backs and send them out. Why not? They're doing nothing for me here and they have such fond memories attached to them...

 I first became interested in cardmaking when I took a couple classes in Massachusetts AND a former classmate in California was sending cards to the troops, back in early 2010. The card on the left, I still make and often use as a sympathy card. The card on the right started the mad obsession with Copics...

 The background paper on this was cut circles from magazines and pretty paper. The cake and the sentiment, I made on the computer. For awhile, I loved making these for Operation Write Home...

 The former classmate I mentioned, became my mentor and in October of 2010, I went and spent a week with her at her home in Fremont, CA. These are two of many cards that we did. The one on the right is the actual original. When I re-made it, many times, I kept this one in the album...

 I must have made a bazillion of the card on the left for Operation Write Home. I loved the entire process. The card on the right is a Bargello Technique I tried and loved. I couldn't ever part with it...

 These two were just fun, fun cards to do for Operation Write Home...

 Of course, I made a lot of these for OWH but they also became one of the many we used when Zack did his campaign to get every student at Marblehead High School to write a note to one of our troops back in 2012... 

 I remember thinking how fun this card was but, there's just so many people to whom you can send it...

 One of the first videos on YouTube that I ever watched. I kept this card because I thought it was so cool how the birds accidentally landed in such a perfect place on the card. It WAS NOT planned... 

One of two I made...

Update 4-22-20: Somehow missed in the group photo above but one I've made many, many times over the years. Designed by my mentor when I visited her in 2010. I brought the stamp, she had the idea. The symbols mean "Faith, Hope and Love"...

So, my thought is, let's get these postal. They're doing me no good sitting in an album that no one looks at. Which is your favorite?