I used the same pattern/design file that I designed in my Pazzles software for this one too! This is the one I’ve made for the sweet lady that comes to my house every other Wednesday and transforms it! Her name is Sharon and I also call her “my angel” and I guess I could also call her my “domestic engineer”! At any rate, she and I did not do Christmas yet as she was here last about eight days before Christmas and we decided we would do it on the Wednesday after Christmas, which is also New Year’s Eve! I have included front and back views in the photos below.

One thing that I did different this time, is that I used some suede paper for the trim, as well as the embellishments. I also used a 1 inch mirror square for the clasp and I used the “engraving tool” on my Pazzles Inspiration to engrave Sharon’s initials on the piece of mirror, which really gives it a personal touch!!! The template/pattern, all trim, reindeer and flourishes were cut using my Pazzles Inspiration.

Supplies

Papers: Bazzill, Suede Paper
Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”

Stamps: Anna Griffin "Flourishes"
Embossing Powder: “PearlLuster Emerald” by Stamp-n-Stuff
Tools: Pazzles InspirationAccessories: Darice Mirror Tiles, Antique Metal Corners by Spare Parts

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

This past week, I made this “name sign” for my newest “great granddaughter”. Her name is Taylor Marie and she was born on October 2nd. She’s actually my “step great granddaughter”, but any way you look at it, she’s mine!!! I just wanted you all to know that I’m really not quite old enough to be a “great grandmother”!LOL

I made this where it can be hung on a door or set on a pedestal. It was cut using my Pazzles Inspiration and I used the “Victorian LET” font. The brown background is Bazzill and then I actually cut “Taylor” using acrylic and then covered it with the pink and brown polka-dot paper. The large butterfly was designed by me using my Pazzles Inspiration Studio software. I tried to make it “girly”, as I have two sons and two grandsons it was really fun to do something feminine! After I punched the “tiny” flowers, I paper sculpted them.

Supplies

Papers: Bazzill (All Flowers, Sm. Butterfly & Brown Mat), Designer Paper (Pink),
Colorbok “Pearlescent Cardstock” (Lg. Butterfly), Canson Effects Papercraft “Plum
& Blueberry Iridescent” (Bottom layers of Butterflies)
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Martha Stewart “Monarch Butterfly” Punch
Accessories: Keepsake Essentials “New” Metal Button, Cork Alphabet Stickers (Oct.),
Spare Parts Metal Stickers (2008), Michaels Rhinestones (Gold & Silver), Crystal
Sticker “Pearls”, Me and My Big Ideas “icons” (colored bling). Jolee’s Dimensional
Stickers “Sweet Baby Girl”. Offray Ribbons

I call this my "Praying Hands" Christmas card.......

I actually completed this card design last week and I’ve made a number of them to give to family members and close friends. I wanted to design a card that was simple and had the “true meaning of Christmas” as it’s main theme…so, what the card has to say is the main thing and this one says quite a bit as you can see by this inside view. Double-click on the photos for a larger view so that you can read the text. The “praying hands” are some I found in my “Images” folder on my PC, I just printed them on my inkjet printer and then chalked around the edges. You can see a larger view of the inside of card here.

Finished Card Size: 5.25”x7.25”

Supplies

Papers: “King’s Gold” Wausau Creative Collection Metallic Cardstock, GA Pacific
White CS & Bazzill
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, QuicKutz Revolution
Accessories: “Venitian” EK Card Creator, Spellbinders “Long Rectangles Large” Nestabilities

Y'all I'm so excited......................

I know you’ve heard me mention my “adopted daughter” before, but for those who haven’t, here’s the story. Five years ago one of my dearest friends, Pat, died of ovarian cancer and prior to her death she told me that Cathy, her youngest child of four grown children would really need me and more or less asked me to be there for her. Well, after Pat’s death, I guess you could say that Cathy and I adopted each other!!! She even calls me “Pomma”, which is a mix of Pam and Momma. At any rate, I love her dearly and I made this purse/box to hold her Christmas present this year. I actually made this on Friday night and finished it off today with the “dear tag”. I've included a front & side view, as well as a view from the back.

I totally designed the pattern in my new Funtime 2009 software and then used my Pazzles Inspiration to cut the pieces out. The cute “dear tag” came with the software…so I can’t take credit for that design. I used a round of Velcro to close the purse flap. The lovely flourish cut-out that is on the front and back were also cut with my Pazzles, using a flourish cutting file from the Pazzles “Swirls & Twirls” CD. I so enjoyed designing and decorating this box and I only hope that Cathy likes it too!

Supplies

Papers: Bazzill & Gold Mirror Card
Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”
Embossing Powders: Stamp-n-Stuff “Detail Clear Transparent”
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Ranger “Heat It”
Accessories: Brides "Ivory Pearl Seals" from Michaels, Gold Corners by
Spare Parts, Cording for handle and purse flap is “Iridescent White” Craft Cord by Needloft

I have a lot to tell you about………….

First of all, I finished my Pazzles Design Team Project and got in the email on Wednesday! I was anxious to play with my new software program for my Pazzles Inspiration that I received on Monday….it’s the new Funtime 2009 and I love it! Needless to say, I spent Thursday playing with it and then yesterday I pretty much spent the day designing cutter files and designing this Christmas card for my youngest son and his family.

The beautiful glittered snowflake is a design by Monica, aka/Silene at the UK Scrappers site! I designed the twig/branch file and the bells using my new software. I made the “holly” paper piecing file using clipart from the Graphics Factory. I just signed up with them for a year. You can download all kinds of neat clipart! The upper left twig was punched using my Martha Stewart punch, but the others were from my design and were cut using my Pazzles Inspiration. I used four layers of embossing powder on the snowflake. I used liquid appliqué for the red berries on the holly and then I used Glassy Accents to make them shiny. I used my computer and printer for the sentiment. This was another one of those cards that was very difficult to photograph. I used silver and gold mirror like card for the bells and that mirror card never photographs well!

Well, after being ill so much for the past two months, I now have my work cut out for me, as I’m way behind on making Christmas cards and don’t know if I will be able to catch up………but I’m going to try!!!
Finished Card Size: A2/4.25”x5.5”

Supplies

Papers: GA Pacific White CS, Bazzill, Gold Mirror CS, “Metallic Silver” Best
Occasions Metallic Paper Pack
Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”
Embossing Powders: “Winter Wonderland Opaque” and “Star Dust Transparent”
by Stamp-n-Stuff
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Ranger “Heat It”, Fiskars “Lace” Border Punch
Accessories: Cuttlebug “Leafy Branch” embossing folder, “CK Cursive” font, Martha
Stewart “Branch” punch, Scor-Pal, Marvy Uchida “Red Liquid Applique”. Inkssentials
“Glossy accents”

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! I know - I’ve been missing for a while. Well, I know you won’t believe it, but I’ve been sick…again! Almost exactly the same symptoms as last time….sore throat, headache and terrible coughing, except this time it was even worse than the last time. At any rate, I now think that I am on the mend and ready to get back to crafting which, after all, is the very best medicine!!!

Prior to getting sick, I was working on my projects for the Pazzles Design Team and got them finished right about the same time I got sick (on the 17th) and I’ve not done anything since then until this evening. I just made this card for the Splitcoast “Ways to Use It”, WT194 – “Giving Thanks”. My youngest son is the best son on the face of the Earth and I decided to dedicate this challenge to him!



Unfortunately, my photography skills were not good enough to pick up the “shimmer” of the papers I used for this card! The lacy “Thanks/Thank You” overlay was designed by me in my Pazzles Inspiration Studio software and then cut by my Pazzles (digital cutter). For the overlay, I used the following fonts: Present Script, Ballroom Tango Regular, Brody, Bean Sprout DNA, Hobo Std. and Lauren Script. Have I mentioned that “I love my Pazzles”? There are just no limits to what you can create and cut with it! I did the text using Photoshop CS3 using the "Freehand591 BT" font and then printed it using my Canon Pixma 530 inkjet printer.
Finished Card Size: A7/5"x7"

Supplies

Papers: GA Pacific White CS (card base), “White Gold” Creative Collection Metallic
CS by Wausau & Target Blue Shimmer Finish CS
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug
Accessories: Long Rectangles Small & Long Scalloped Rectangles Small Nestabilities, The Robins Nest “Clear” Dew Drops

Christmas Card for my Darling!

I took some time out from working on my Pazzles Design projects to make a Christmas Card for my DH and I got my inspiration from a couple of the Splitcoast Stampers challenges for this week. The first one is for the Technique Lover’s Challenge (TLC193), “Decorative Circle Medallion” and the second is for the Ways to Use It Challenge (WT191), “Cutting Corners”. I made my own background paper for the red layer by stamping and then using clear embossing powder. I cut the circle using my Pazzles Inspiration, punched it with my corner punch and then embossed it using my Cuttlebug. The green outer circle was designed and cut using my Pazzles as was the text boxes. I did the text using Photoshop CS3 using the BrockScript font and then printed it using my Epson printer and the Matte Heavyweight setting. The black and gold beads in the corners were designed and made by me!
Finished Card Size: A7/5"x7"

Supplies

Papers: GA Pacific White CS (painted gold), “Empress Emerald” Creative
Collection Metallic CS by Wausau Paper & Target Red Shimmer Finish CS

Stamps: Anna Griffin Flourishes Sets 2 3

Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”

Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Ranger “Heat It”, Cuttlebug

Accessories: EK Card Creator “Venetian” Corner Punch, Glitter Ornaments
Peel-Off Stickers by The Paper Studio, EK Decorative “Love x 3” Corner
Adorner, Offray “Oatmeal” Satin Ribbon, "Black Jewels" embossing powder by Old Town Crafts and "Detail Clear Transparent" embossing powder by Stamp-n-Stuff

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

I’ve been away for quite a while and to tell the truth I’ve been going into withdrawal from not creating any greeting cards, as that is my passion!!! I’ve been busy working on a project for Pazzles, as well as creating some files, but I can’t talk about them just yet. I’ve also been experimenting with some techniques as well!

Well, today I broke down and created a Christmas card using the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge (SC200) for my inspiration. I used some “faux metal” that I made and I really wanted to use some handmade paper that I had recently purchased at Hobby Lobby. I also used some gold spray paint to spray my base card gold! I will have to tell you this….this has been one of the most difficult cards to photograph!!!! I think I’ve taken like 50 plus shots and I’m still not happy with the one I’m posting here, as it really does not do justice to the beautiful colors and textures of this card….but here it is.

I’ve also taken a close-up of some of the “faux metal”.

Finished Card Size: A2/4.25"x5.5"

I just came across this while reading a newsletter and decided to share it with everyone!

Blessings in Stone

Two friends were walking through the desert. As the day wore on and they became hotter and wearier, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand, Today my best friend slapped me in the face.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they knelt beside a pond, eager for a long, cool drink. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone, Today my best friend saved my life.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone. Why?”

The other friend replied, “When someone hurts us we should write it in the sand where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Let’s learn to write our hurts in the sand and carve our blessings in stone!

Supplies

Papers: GA Pacific White CS (card base & square frames that are spray painted gold) & The Paper Studio “Handmade Paper Pack”
Stamps: Hero Arts & Plaid All Night Media “Winter Holiday” (sentiment)
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Range “Heat It”, Cuttlebug
Ink: Ranger “Queen’s Gold” & Old Town Crafts “Ultra Fine Silver”Accessories: Offray “Gold Metallic” Ribbon, Michaels Gold & Silver “Rhinestone Stickers”, Premium Brilliant Finish "25 Kt. Gold Spray Enamel"

This is my 1st Christmas Card for the 2008 season...

and I have to thank the ladies at the Splitcoast Stampers site for my design inspirations, which were created for Tuesday’s (October 14th) Color Challenge CC188 and Wednesday’s (October 15th) Sketch Challenge SC198!!! I love them both. I know that pink, black and white seem like strange colors for a Christmas Card, but I personally think they are great! The beautiful pink poinsettia blooms that I cut using my Pazzles Inspiration were designed by a very talented lady in the UK named Sharon Long, but better known as “The Scrapbook Lady”. Here is a link to her site where you can find about 19 free GSD files for download, although I’m afraid that I don’t see this file any longer: http://www.thescrapbooklady.co.uk/catalog/gsddownload.php. I used Photoshop, “Santa’s Sleigh Full” font and my Canon Pixma MP530 inkjet printer to do “Happy Holidays”. I paper sculpted the poinsettias and filled the center with Stickles and some black fun foam that I punched with my tiny hole punch. By the way, I once again pulled out my sewing machine and some thread…..check out the “sewn” leaves on the bottom black panel on my card! I think I may be getting addicted!LOL
Finished Card Size: A2/4.25”x5.5”

Supplies

Papers: Westrim Crafts (Black CS), The Paper Company (White CS), Bazzill (Pink CS)
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Brother i6000 Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug
Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilitis Small Standard Circles, Mark Richards “Pearls Perles” Crystal Stickers, Offray Black Satin Ribbon, “Black Diamond” Stickles, Fiskars Hole Punch

Well....finally I'm back and feeling much better!

For the Splitcoast “Technique Lover’s Challenge” this past Monday (TLC190), they selected the “Stair Step Fold” and I decided that would be great for making my friend Liz’s birthday card……….so here it is! My actual design started around the beautiful ribbon that I recently purchased at Michael’s for $1.00!!! The butterfly that I cut with my Pazzles Inspiration was a free paper piecing from the Better Homes and Gardens Scrapbooks, etc. The only thing I changed was the “body”….I kind of redesigned it in my Pazzles software and I used some beading “eye pins” that I re-shaped for antennae. If any of you would like the “recipe” for the Stair Step/Accordion Card, you can find it here at the Splitcoast site. I also want to mention that I made a little “card in a card” for this project so that I would have a place for my personal signature! The little metal looking “celebrate!” piece at the top of the ribbon is “faux metal” that I made some time back. The “Happy Birthday Liz” was done using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and the “Young Love ES” font and I used Color Code #122903 and then I printed it using my Canon Pixma MP530 inkjet printer. I also want to mention that this is the very first time that I have used machine stitching on a paper crafting project, but I will be doing it more often….love the look!!!

Supplies

Papers: Bazzill & “Kiwi Iridescent” EFFECTS Papercraft by Canson
Ink: “Ultra Fine Silver” by Old Town Crafts (for “faux metal”)
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Ranger “Heat It”, Martha Stewart “Embossed ZigZag” Border Punch, Brother i6000 Sewing Machine
Accessories: Ribbon is Michaels Stores “Shimmering Crystals”, the Paper Studios “Peel-Off Stickers” (silver border), Silver Stars were a gift of Peel-Offs from a friend in the UK, Mark Richards “Peel-Offs” (the remainder of the silver stickers), Craft Expressions “Eye Pins” (antennae), Spellbinders Nestabilities “Small Petite Scalloped Ovals” & “Small Petite Ovals”, “Mesh”, “Textile” & “Tiny Bubbles” Cuttlebug Embossing Folders. Coats & Clark “Silver Metallic Thread”

I'm afraid that I've been "under the weather"............

for the past couple of days, so I have not been posting. Seems to be some kind of upper respiratory infection! I'm ready for it to go somewhere else!!!

Prior to that I was busy working on some designs for Pazzles, so I've not been creating any cards, etc. this week. I happened to be going through my pBase Gallery and came across a couple of nature shots that I actually was somewhat proud of....so I thought I would share them with you.

This first one is a shot of what I call the "perfect gardenia bloom". It was taken in my backyard back in the spring of 2004, as we have a huge gardenia bush. I think gardenias are my favorite. My husband always cuts some for me to have in the house because their fragrance in simply heavenly!!!

This second one was taken around the same time, as I was practicing using my macro shot on some wild flowers. I came across this "blackeyed susan" and was lucky enough to also get a shot of a "Green Lynx Spider". My husband laughed when I told him it reminded me of a kiwi!!!

Well, I'm starting to cough again, so for now I'm going to call it a day. I hope you enjoy my "nature" shots!!!

Wedding Card for my Sister-In-Law.................

This is the wedding card that I just made for my husband's sister, who is getting married tomorrow at 2pm! She was widowed about four years ago and the man she is marrying lost his wife around the same time. Her son works with this man and he introduced them and they hit it off! I'm so happy for both of them!

I desgined and cut the "Hearts Frame" using my Pazzles Inspiration. The flourish embellishment (Flourish Embellishment from Luck Pg.) that I used was designed by “ibpamelac” at the Yahoo KNK Group. I converted it to a WPC file and cut it using my Pazzles Inspiration. The "text" was done using my Pazzles Inspiration's "Pen Tool" and then I heat embossed it. The font I used is "Edwardian Script".
Finished Card Size" A7/5"x7"

Papers: GA Pacific (White CS Base), Effects Papercraft by Canson ("Translucent Silver" behind the hearts frame and "Iced Gold" for the hearts frame, the embossed area and the text) and "Chalice Silver" Metallic CS by Wausau Paper (Silver CS for 2nd layer and base for the flourish).

Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”

Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Ranger "Heat It"

Accessories: "Textile" Embossing Folder, Crystal Stickers 5mm "Pearl Perles", Offray "Salutation with Love" Ribbon, "Ultra Fine Silver" embossing power by Old Town Craftsand the tiny silver heart on the ribbon was a "Peel-Offs" sticker from the UK that was given to me as a gift

Check out the beautiful card that I...............

found in my mailbox when I returned home on Monday from a trip to visit with my adorable grandsons for my "birthday weekend"!!! It is from my crafting friend, Teri and I'm afraid that the photo really does not capture all the beauty of her creation!!!!

Please visit Teri's Splitcoast Stampers Gallery for information and details on this beautiful creation!!! I so fell in love with this....that today I had to go to Michaels and purchase the beautiful metallic, iridescent and translucent papers that she used for the leaves and butterflies! Thank you so much Teri, I love it!!!

I received some VERY exciting news this evening!!!

I have been selected to be on the Design Team for Pazzles for 2008-2009!!! This will be the first time that I have done something like this and I'm very excited about it!

For those of you that are not familiar with Pazzles, they make digital cutters....similar to the Cricut, except you don't ever have to buy cartridges! I purchased my Pazzles, which is the Pazzles Inspiration, this past March and I absolutely love it!!! Here is a photo of it:

It cuts 12"x12" and you can even cut chipboard with it!!! It's a fantastic tool for cardmaking, scrapbooking and paper crafts in general. You can do wonders with vinyl also. It cuts any true type font that you have on your computer........any size you desire (up to 12")!!! And did I mention that there are tons of FREE files that you can download online? Here is a photo of an off the shoulder gown that I designed and made available for download for free:

This is just an example of files that you can find online to download and cut with your Pazzles that are free for personal use! At any rate..............can you tell that I am excited? Thanks for bearing with me!!!

"Fleur de lys" inspired card..............

Yesterday I came across a digital cutter file (for the Craft Robo) that was designed by SylviaF at the UK Scrappers site and it was so lovely I decided to convert the file to cut using my Pazzles Inspiration and of course if I was going to cut it out then I just had to make a card. I wound up using it to make a little birthday card. One of the things I liked about the file was that she designed a mat that you thread with ribbon! The file is named “Fleur de lys Frame with Lattice” and can be found in the “Craft Robo Templates” section at the UK site. Her design actually has a top mat that is latticed but I decided just to create “Happy Birthday” using the Pazzles “Impress BT Reg” font and I added a mat and cut it using my Pazzles Inspiration. I embossed “Happy Birthday” using VersaMark and white opaque embossing powder. I did this three times. I also decided to make a bow to match the laced ribbon, added Liquid Pearls on the “fleur de lys” mat and a butterfly embellishment.
Finished Card Size: A2/4.25”x5.5”

Papers: GA Pacific (White CS Card Base), Wausau “Creative Collection Textures Cardstock” (White Mats & Sentiment), Bazzill
Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Ranger “Heat-It”

Accessories: Offray “Polyester” Ribbon, “Petal Pink” Liquid Pearls, Stamp-n-Stuff “Detail White Opaque” Embossing Powder, Plaid “All Night Media Paper Toppings (Butterfly), Cuttlebug “Swiss Dots” Embossing Folder

Thank You for a special "Forum Friend"...........

I designed this card today for a very special friend that I’ve come to know at one of the forums that I frequent. She’s the type of person that goes out of her way for others and I just wanted to say a special “Thank You” to her. I will announce who she is “after” she receives this card in the mail!LOL

The design of this card all started with my favorite flowers that I make using a file designed for the Craft Robo by “Doris the Crafter” at the UK Stampers site. Her design consists of five different layers, which I like to “paper sculpt” using my embossing stylus. I actually converted her file into a file format that I can use with my Pazzles Inspiration, which I used to cut the flower layers. For the center of the flowers I just used a white cardstock circle that I cut with my eyelet tool, then “paper sculpted”, glued to the center and then covered with “Stickles”. The other element that was crucial to this design is the beautiful metallic “crumpled” purple paper that I used. I am sorry, but I cannot tell you anything about this paper except the fact that I think I purchased it from Paper Wishes years ago and have been “hoarding” it ever since! I then decided I wanted a border at the top and bottom of the card and decided to use my “Lace” border punch. I punched the bottom border large enough that I could run a piece of the lavender cardstock through the middle of it, covered with the lovely orchid ribbon and pearls. Both borders were heat embossed using a sparkly embossing powder. I used my Nestabilities for the ovals and heat embossed the largest one. The sentiment was done using Photoshop CS3 and the “Edwardian Script” font. I hope my friend really likes this card!

I do want to add one thing.....this card was so hard to photograph and I'm afraid my photography skills are lacking! I was unable to pick up the true beauty of the metallic crumpled paper as well as the "Star Dust" embossing on the borders....but at least you can get an idea of what it looks like!

Finished Card Size" A7/5"x7"

Papers: Royal Brites (White CS), Ampad "Pastels Cardstock" (Lt. Lavender CS), Imagine that "Textured Cardstock" (Purple CS) & Paper Wishes "Crumpled Metallic Paper"

Ink: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark”

Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Ranger "Heat It", Fiskars "Lace" Border Punch

Accessories: Nestabilities LG Petite Ovals & LG Petite Scalloped Ovals, "Crystal" Stickles, Stamp-n-Stuff " Star Dust Transparent" Embossing Powder, Crystal "Pearls" Stickers, Offray "Sheer Peiti Dot C2 Lt. Orchid" Ribbon

"White Out!"

This is the card I made for today’s Splitcoast Stampers “Limited Supplies” Challenge (LSC186), called “White Out!”, meaning you had to make white or vanilla as the main color of your design and the second color had to be black, brown or any shade of gray and you could choose any color as your third color. I chose White/Black/Silver. Wendy, aka/”Wendybell” also had a list of guidelines:

1. White/Vanilla as main color – I used a shimmer white
2. Second color MUST be either black, brown (any shade) or gray – I used black
3. Add a third color to accent the first two colors – I used silver
4. Use ONLY ink that matches the cardstock colors you have chosen – no extra colors here! – I used black
5. NO patterned paper or background stamps – I did not use any
6. Stamp only ONE image, ONE time, somewhere on the white piece of cardstock. Remember that you are LIMITED to only THREE colors – TOTAL!! No cheating by adding extra colors to a line art image that has to be colored in! – I totally forgot about this and had to add the “granny” stamp after I had completed this card!
7. If you use punches or a Nestabilities-type die, please stamp the image on white or vanilla there as well, keeping your top background layer white/vanilla, too!
8. Stamp a sentiment and add to your card (this step is optional) – only use it once
9. Embellish as you like (ribbons, brads, Cuttlebug embossing folders)
10. NO “distressing” the white cardstock – (that would be sponging!) – we want to keep these layers “clean”

This challenge was a lot of fun and I got to use some of my supplies and tools that I’d never used before….one of them being the beautiful white shimmer cardstock from the Wausau Paper “Creative Collection Metallic Cardstock” pack. I also used some of my silver rhinestone stickers that I recently purchased at Michaels, not to mention that beautiful ribbon that I purchased from All That Scraps. The flourish embellishment (Flourish Embellishment from Luck Pg.) that I used was designed by “ibpamelac” at the Yahoo KNK Group. I converted it to a WPC file and cut it using my Pazzles Inspiration.
Finished Card Size: A2/4.25"x5.5"

Papers: GA Pacific (White CS for card base), Wausau Paper Metallic Cardstock "White Gold" (top two white layers), Best Occasions Metallic Paper Pack (Black CS)
Inks: StazOn "Jet Black"
Stamps: Studio G (granny)
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug
Accessories: EK Success "Venitian" Cardcreator, Cuttlebug "Elephant Thanks" & "Diamonds in the Rough" Embossing Folders, May Arts "3/8" Reversible Black/Silver" Ribbon, Michaels "Silver" Rhinestone Stickers

Yesterday I posted a Wedding Card that I made for my friend Tina’s daughter, Sarah and this morning I made a vellum envelope with an embossed liner to match. Since I am going to be mailing this card, the whole thing is going into a bubble-lined envelope to protect it. Besides that, it has a long way to go…..all the way to the UK!

I used my Scor-Pal to make my vellum envelope. To make an envelope for an A7 (5”x7”) card, I use a letter sized piece of paper, I score each side at 5/8” (length-wise), then turn the paper 90 degrees and score at 2” and 7 ¼”…….then I folded and trimmed it and rounded the corners.

For the front of the envelope I used four of those beautiful “Silver Classic Photo Corners”, one for each corner. I designed three hearts, three different sizes and the largest one is scalloped. I did the design using my Pazzles software. I used my Pazzles to cut them. I embossed the scalloped one using my “Textile” embossing folder. The center heart is cut from some mirror type cardstock that I have on hand…do not know who it is made by and truthfully, I’ve had it so long that I can’t even remember where I got it from! I used my Pazzles with the Pen Tool and the "Edwardian Script" font to draw “Robert and Sarah” with my “EraserMate” pen, then I embossed it using silver embossing powder and my heat gun.

I cut a “liner” just a bit smaller than the envelope out of Epson Bright White Paper and also embossed the liner “flap” using my “Textile” embossing folder. I also cut a smaller scalloped heart using my Pazzles, embossed it and used it for a “closure”. I cut a “slit” in the back of envelope that the bottom of the heart fits into to fasten it.

I almost always make my own envelopes to match the cards I make!

Papers: Strathmore "Pastel Vellum", Epson "Premium Bright White Paper", Royal Brites (White CS)

Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug, Ranger "Heat-It"

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Textile" Embossing Folder, The Paper Studio "Silver Classic Photo Corners" Peel-Off Stickers, PaperMate "EraserMate" Pen, Old Town Crafts "Ultra Fine Silver" Embossing Powder

A Wedding Card for Sarah & Robert..............

During the past couple of years I have become very close friends with a very special lady named Tina (aka/silverst170)at the UK Scrappers site.....I just think the world of her! For those of you that use digital cutters she designs and sells lovely digital cutter files in different formats...you can find them here. Her lovely daughter Sarah just had her wedding on the 2nd of September and what's so funny is that her daughter's wedding date of September 2 is the same as my youngest son, Chad! At any rate, I knew that even though I didn't know Sarah, because of my friendship with Tina, I wanted to make a very special wedding card for Sarah and it just so happened that day I was at the Splitcoast Stampers site checking out the "Limited Supply Challenge" for that week and Judy, aka/StampingQueenJAR, had come up with the idea of "A Little Something", in essence "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue", which was a perfect fit for the card I was getting ready to create! Thank you Judy!!! So here's mine:

Something Old: "Textile" Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and of course, "me"!!!
Something New: "Heart Frame" that I designed for my Pazzles

Something Borrowed: "Heart Swirl" from Pazzles "Swirls & Twirls" CD

Something Blue: Bazzill Blue CS

I have had the "With Love" ribbon in my stash for some time now and it was perfect for this card....I just love it! I designed the "Hearts Frame" using my Pazzles Inspiration Studio software and a "Heart Swirl" file from the Pazzles "Swirls & Twirls" CD. "On Your Wedding Day" was done using my Pazzles Inspiration "Pen Tool" with the "Edwardian Script" font and my "EraserMate" pen and , which stays wet and enables me to heat emboss using silver embossing powder. The silver "lines" on the card front are "Peel-Offs" that were a gift from another friend at the the UK site, Cal (aka/Hysteri-CAL). You can check out her blog here.

For the inside of the card I decided to make a white base, using the same Martha Stewart Border Punch ("Embossed Scroll Lace") and then I used Photoshop CS3 to type a beautiful poem I found online by Joanna Fuchs. In fact, I just finished the inside of the card this morning, as I was looking for a very special poem and I found it last night. When I printed it onto the lovely blue vellum I used the "Transparency" setting for my Epson R200 Inkjet Printer....you just have to make sure that you give it plenty of time to dry! The font that I used is the same font that I used on the front of the card, "Edwardian Script". The lovely silver corners at the top are The Paper Studio "Silver Classic Photo Corners" Peel-Off Stickers...the ones at the bottom are "Silver Ornate Photo Corners". I absolutely love the "Peel-Off" stickers and I was actually introduced to them at the UK site. I am now able to find some of them at Hobby Lobby, but I wish they would carry a larger selection! By the way, please excuse my poor photography for the photo of the inside...it was very hard to capture.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this card as much as I enjoyed creating it...I think it's one of my favorite creations. Have a really great day!

Papers: Bazzill (Blue CS), Royal Brites (White CS), Strathmore "Pastel Vellum" (Blue Vellum)

Tools: Pazzles Inspiraton, Cuttlebug, Epson R200 Inkjet Printer & Ranger "Heat-It"

Accessories: Nestabilities Petite LG Ovals & Petite LG Scalloped Ovals, Cuttlebug "Textile" Embossing Folder, Offray "Salutation with Love" and "Silver" Ribbons, Crystal "Pearls" Stickers, "Peel-Offs" (silver strips on card front were a gift from the Cal in the UK), The Paper Studio "Silver Classic Photo Corners" & "Silver Ornate Photo Corners" Peel-Off Stickers, PaperMate "EraserMate" Pen, Martha Steward "Embossed Scroll Lace" Border Punch, Old Town Crafts "Ultra Fine Silver" Embossing Powder

Appreciation Card

Even though my husband is retired, he still does some consulting on a contract basis for the company he used to work for and last Wednesday evening the wife of the man that owns the company called me and asked me if I would make her an "appreciation card" and I told her I would, but it would be a first! She had to have it right away, so I really only had a few hours to come up with a design and produce it. Here it is:

Some time back I had designed this card base using my Pazzles Inspiration Studio (software for my Pazzles Inspiration digital cutter)....so at least I already had a pattern for the card base. I based my layout around the designer CS from the DCWV "Pocket full of Posies Stack" , so I cut my card base out of the yellow textured "Imagine that" CS. I then chose the lavender Ampad "Pastels Cardstock" to complete my paper selections. I then found some Target ribbon that would work with the paper selections and took off from there! I used my Nestabilities LG Petite Scalloped Ovals and LG Petite Ovals for the yellow oval and I used one of my Cuttlebug "Frills Set" border embossing folders to emboss down each side of the patterned paper and brushed my "Platinum Planet" ink pad over the embossed area to make it "pop"! The sentiment was done using my "EraserMate" pen with the Pazzles Pen Tool, which I then covered with the silver embossing powder and heat embossed. The font I used was a "Pazzles" font called "Complex. I punched the little flowers, inked them with VersaMark, covered them with the clear embossing powder and heat embossed. I used the "Paper Sculpting" technique to sculpt the flowers and then I used Stickles to make the centers of the flowers. I'm truly not all that happy with this card....but she liked it very much and I guess that's all that really matters!

Finished Card Size: A7/5"x7"

Papers: "Imagine that", DCWV "Pocket full of Posies Stack" & Ampad "Pastels Cardstock"
Inks: Tsukineko “VersaMark Watermark” & Tsukineko Brilliance “Platinum Planet”
Tools: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Ranger “Heat-It” Accessories: Nestabilities LG Petite Ovals & LG Petite Scalloped Ovals, EK Success Flower Punch (SM lavender flowers), Target Ribbon, "Crystal" Stickles, Stamp-n-Stuff "Detail Clear Transparent" and Old Town Crafts "Ultra Fine Silver" embossing powders, Cuttlebug "Frills Set" Borders Embossing Folder, PaperMate "EraserMate" Pen

WOW....my 1st award!!!

What a great surprise.........Barb has presented me with this award and believe me this was a total, but pleasant surprise! You need to go check out Barb's blog. By the way, she's also known as "thecountryrose" and her blog is bookmarked in my "Favorite Blogs" list.

Here are the rules for this award:

1) The winner can put the logo on their blog
2) Link the person you received your award from
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Put links of those blogs on yours
5) Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated

I would like to pass this award on to some of the blogs that I visit often, that inspire me in my creative endeavors! So please visit these blogs and get some inspiration too!

1] Kerry Cox

2] Clare Kent

3] Jessie Rone

4] Jennifer Meyer

5] Jeanne Streiff

6] Michelle Wooderson

7] Jackie Pedro

I wish everyone a great Sunday!

Hugs, Pam

Happy Birthday Sharon............

On the 15th of this month a very special person in my life is having a birthday and I made this card for her today. I am also using this card for the Splitcoast Stampers “Ways to Use It” challenge (WT182), “Specialty Paper”.

For the background I used some Bazzills cardstock and my brand new “Autumn Leaves Flourishes v2” stamps by Rhonna Farrer to design my own “designer” paper. I stamped using my VersaMark “Watermark” stamp pad, then some “Detail Clear” embossing powder and my heat gun. That and the bow that I made using some “Harvest” ribbon that I purchased from Walmart some time ago were the main design elements of this card. The corners were designed by me using the software for my Pazzles Inspiration (digital cutter) and after cutting them I ran them through my Cuttlebug using the “Textile” embossing folder. I then added the pearl elements. Needless to say, I am going to have to make a box to put this card in, as it’s too bulky to fit into an envelope! The "sentiment" was done using MS Word and the "BrockScript" font.

Fall is quickly approaching and next year my friend will be 50! I wanted to use fall colors for this card as she is approaching the “fall of her life”! I sure am glad that she’s not into crafting/card making, etc…..so she won’t be reading this!lol

Finished Card Size: A7/5"x7"

Stamps: Autumn Leaves "Flourishes v2" by rhonna farrer

Inks: VersaMark "Watermark"

Accessories: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Brides "Ivory Pearl Seal", Offray "Green Satin Ribon" & Harvest Ribbon

Celebrate...................

This is the card that I made for yesterday's Splitcoast Stampers Technique Lovers Challenge called "Black Magic". For this technique you start with a dark cardstock and stamp your images with white or vanilla craft ink. I was not having very good luck...I think I need to purchase a reinker for my Moonlight White as it did not stamp very well and I wound up adding some "Detail White" embossing powder and using my heat gun and then I used my Prismacolor pencils and "Goo Gone" to color the cart. The rubber stamp of the "flower cart" is one that I purchased years ago from a stamp store that is no longer in business.....and I don't think that I've ever used it before!

I knew that I wanted to use some flowers in the cart and I decided to use a cutting file that was designed by Jennifer {aka/pokrplyrjn} at the Yahoo Pazzles Inspiration Group. I altered the file so that I could use my pen tool to make an inner line that I could emboss with gold embossing powder after the Pazzles cut all the flowers out for me! After they were cut out I used my Prismacolor pencil to color them and I used my embossing stylus to "sculpt" them. I punched some little yellow circles, dotted them with my brown Sharpie, "sculpted" the circles with my embossing stylus, glued them to the centers of my flowers and added "Crystal" Stickles to them. The leaves I used were some I had left over from another project. I used my Nestabilities large petite ovals. I used my Cuttlebug and my "Leafy Branch" embossing folder to emboss the blue metallic cardstock and then used my Scor-Pal for the embossed lines. I added the green ribbon flat bow and adhered the "faux" metal "Celebrate" sentiment, which I made some time back using a Studio G stamp. I want to add that because of the metallic elements on this card, it was rather difficult to get a really decent photo. Below is a close-up of the "faux" metal.


Finished Card Size: Custom/5.5"x5.5"

Stamps: Parked on Rubber (Flower Card), Studio G (sentiment)
Inks: "Queen's Gold" by Ranger & "Moonlight White" Brilliance
Accessories: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Ranger "Heat It", Scor-Pal, Offray Ribbon

Now I've done it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I've finally done it..........I've become a "blogger" and I absolutely have no idea what I'm doing, so please bear with me!!! I'd like to start by sharing a card that I made yesterday for the” Inspiration Challenge" (IC143~Hotel Fox) at Splitcoast Stampers. For those of you that have not registered at their site, you really should, as you will learn so much, plus their challenges really help to inspire your cardmaking, etc! The "room" image (Room #404 of the Hotel Fox) is a photo of the "hotel" room that I used for my inspiration.

I really did not have any designer paper on hand for this this.....so I went into Photoshop CS3 and designed my own red background paper using brushes! After I printed the paper using my Epson Inkjet, I sprayed it with DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze, which to me made it look more Japanese. I spent a couple of years in Japan as a child and I still remember the beauty of it. I used my Cuttlebug and the "Birds & Swirls" embossing folder to emboss the gold frame that I designed and cut using my Pazzles and it's software...it kind of gave it a bamboo look! I used some "King’s Gold" Wausau Metallic Paper to make the frame.

Finished Card Size: A2/4.25"x5.5"

Stamps: PSX F-1741 (Bamboo) , Studio G, Series 11 (sentiment)
Inks: "Queen's Gold" by Ranger

Accessories: Pazzles Inspiration, Cuttlebug, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Offray Ribbon