A Birthday card

Good Sunday morning, Faithful Followers!

I hope that you have been enjoying your weekend. I don't know how the weather is where you live, but here in Texas, we have had a very rainy weekend, which is very welcome. It isn't very motivating though! 

Today I am sharing a card that I made for my Dad. I think that most of us struggle with making masculine cards. Although, I have found that the trick is to know what a person really loves, whether it is for a male or female. I really think that makes the card. I think that my favorite thing to do is to make cards for people that I know what they love and are passionate about. It makes my creative juices flow!

So, on with today's card. This stamp is from Rubbernecker and is a  T-Bird convertible. My Dad loves cars, always has. In fact, when I was growing up, we lived about an hour from my maternal grandparents. My grandparents never knew what car to look for when we would visit, because we had a different car almost every time we visited! He just loved cars so much. He has never lost that passion. So, when I started thinking about his birthday, I remembered that I had bought several car stamps from Rubbernecker when I attended a stamping convention. Since my Dad lives in Florida, I gave the card a tropical flair!

Rubbernecker T-Bird Convertible Birthday card


I started out by coloring the car with Copic  and Stampin' Up! markers. I used both, mainly because I didn't have enough of a variety in orange. I also used a silver pen on the "chrome" parts of the car. I then used some Diamond Glaze on the orange "paint" part of the car. After letting it dry, I cut it out. Using white card stock, I drew a line to resemble a road, then added the sun. I inked the background for both the sky and the road. I had a cute glittered palm tree in my stash, which I added to the side of the road. I wanted the car to really stand out, so I used pop dots to raise it and give it dimension. As I looked at the card, I thought that it needed something more to make it into a birthday card. I remembered that I had a Stampin' Up! set that had all kinds of things to add to the back of a truck or car. When I found the balloons, I knew that they were what I was looking for. I stamped that directly onto the white card stock, then colored the balloons. I mounted the design onto orange card stock to coordinate with the car. To complete the card, I stamped Happy Birthday and then punched it out, inking the edges with the same orange used on my car. And...voila!

I hope you enjoy today's card! Have a wonderful Sunday.

Hugs!
Deb

Rainy Saturday

Good morning, Faithful Followers!

It's a rainy Saturday morning here. You would think that with the sound of the rain softly landing on the roof, it would make me sleep. But, here I am at 6:00 AM. Oh well, I guess that I was anxious to come on here and share with you!

I have been busy in my studio this week. I have been trying to get cards made before I go to an upcoming wedding out of town. I wanted to be sure that the "beginning of the month birthdays" are not belated! So often, I get behind with those early month birthdays. They seem to just sneak up on me.

Today I am sharing another wedding card with you. I was inspired by another card that I saw online. I played around with it for quite awhile. I finally was able to get the look I was going for.

My first challenge was to decide what size to make the hearts. I punched out larger ones to begin with, but they were too big. They look up too much space on the card. I wanted to have rows that were full and equal. I used my Creative Memories heart punch that I have had since it came out and I was a Creative Memories Consultant...a long time ago! They have 2 sizes on each punch. So, there's no guess work in matching the sizes to one another.

Next, I took the smallest of the hearts and put them onto an embossing folder and ran them through my Cuttlebug to give them texture. After that, I layered them onto the larger hearts, put them in rows and attached them to the card. To make them pop a little more, I added some pearls to the center of each one.

ONce my hearts were made, I cut out the "I DO" on my Cricut using the Ashlyn's ABCs cartridge. I cut them out in white cardstock too, and didn't like how it faded into the card itself, so I attached it to the center, between the hearts, and decided to add some Stickles for color, texture and dimension. Now, I would like to tell you that it was as simple as that. But, any cardmaker or scrapbook maker knows, it's not that simple! I tried many other options before finally deciding to go with this look. I am SO happy that I didn't give up! 

Have a great day and be creative, my friends!

Hugs!
Deb

It's Hump Day!

Happy Hump Day, Faithful Followers!

It's time to put my best foot forward and start working on gifts for Christmas. I am determined to make gifts this year. I have some great ideas that I have come up with, as well as those from Pinterest. Are you addicted yet? Pinterest is stirring up some creative juices in me, as well as some pretty darn good meals!

It's Hump Day! I thought that I would share a picture of my adorable grandson             to help make you smile today! But, don't worry, I am sharing cards with you too!

Bobby

Wedding card

I am beginning with a card that I made for my daughter's best friend and her husband-to-be. Hopefully, she won't be checking out my blog before the wedding a week from Saturday! I got the idea from a card that I saw on Pinterest, but made it my own.

I have to say that it was challenging to make a card freehand, as I am not an artist by any means.But, I cut out the bride's dress freehand and put it through my Cuttlebug. I added it on top of my card, which I had attached a piece of black cardstock from a mat stack. I then cut out a little shirt, bow tie, flower and lapel freehand. I added some black pearls as buttons, and a pearl for the inside of the flower, then attached the whole piece just above the top of the card, to make the groom appear to be taller than the bride. I had a string of pearl type beads, which I added as the bride's waistband, along with a flower with a pearl center. 

After I finished with the basic card, I thought that it still needed something. So, I went into my stash and found a piece of tulle to make a veil. I had to strategically tuck it behind the front of the card. I added a piece of card stock to cover the backside of the front, and added a journaling box made from a Spellbinders die.

I am hoping that my special bride receiving this card loves it! I hope that you enjoy it too!

Have a wonderful day!

Hugs!

Deb 

Happy Fall...a day late!

Good morning, Faithful Followers!

I forgot to that yesterday was the first day of Fall, until I had already posted my blog. So, Happy Fall! It's hard to believe that it's here, yet I am SO ready to move on from Summer. Summer in the Texas heat is no picnic...it's even too hot to have picnics!

Today I am sharing another card that was made for one of my favorite customers! She has a friend who loves lighthouses. She needed a Christmas card for her. So, I thought, how can I make a lighthouse look like a Christmas card? Ta da! Add one of my favorite blings to it...Stickles! I drew my "electrical cord" around and down the lighthouse, then added red and green dots of Stickles at random. 

Of course, I just told you the last part of the designing the card! So, I will tell you that I started out by inking my background, using a sponge. I did the sky first, then the sand. I then went back and added dimension to the grass by highlighting it with a marker. 

When I delivered this card and the 2 others to my customer, she was very happy. That, in turn, made me very happy!

I did want to tell you that in yesterday's post, I don't think that I had told you that I had added Stickles to Santa's beard. I don't know if you can tell from my photo. 

I hope that you know that on any of my pictures, you can click on them to make them larger. It may help you with some of the detail. Please give me feedback on the clarity of the photos. If I need to change the way the pictures are taken, please let me know.

Have a great day!
Hugs!
Deb

Good morning, Faithful Followers!

It's the weekend once again. It's funny how much we rush the weekdays, so that we can get to the weekends, and enjoy life once again! I hope that you have set aside some time for yourself...perhaps crafting time? I have a busy day ahead of me, which includes garage sales, antique mall, Hobby Lobby, and a dinner get together with friends. I can't wait! Since it's not quite 6:00 AM, I have just enough time to do a little sharing with you. :-)

Today I am sharing a tropical Santa Christmas card. It is a card that I made for a dear customer of mine.

I used a gift border punch across the top of my mat. The Santa is Stampin' Up!, as well as the stocking and starfish. They're from the Sunny Seasons Greetings set, which is retired, I believe. The recipient of the card is a lover of beaches, sunsets and tropical things. I tried to incorporate those things into this card. I added a sponged background, and a sun setting. I cut a circle with a punch, then used the "hole part"as a template,  to sponge my sun with several ink colors. I sponged the beach with ink, then added a mixture of sand and some tiny beads. Ribbon was added to the bottom with some embellishments. Finally, I added a punched background with the greeting on the top of it.

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!

Hugs!
Deb

Can you believe that it's September already?!

My grandson Bobby

Good morning, Faithful Followers!

Children love to get in on the act of crafting. Whenever my grandson comes to visit, he loves to go into my studio to check out my supplies and play! From the time he was able to walk, he would always come in and go directly to my punch drawers, which he still does today (He will be 4 in November). It has always been the one place in my room that isn't off limits to him, and he respects that rule.

So, when he or my granddaughter, Ashley come to visit, I love to take them into my room to be creative. They both love to experiment with different tools. The last time that Ashley was here, she made a beautiful scrapbook to commemorate their family trip to Disney. She did an amazing job! She also made thank you notes that were so cute!

Bobby enjoys making things for his mama. So the card above is one that he made for her, using his own ideas and using the tools that he wanted to. don't you love to see children being creative? I think that it's important for us all to nurture that in children.

Like many of you out there, I am addicted to Pinterest! I am trying to use some of what I find. The headband below is an idea that I got from Pinterest. It didn't have any instructions, but was easy to figure out.

Ghost for headband

It's made with simple white ribbon, which I cut into pieces and added a stitch or two to the backside to keep them attached to one another. I added the bow and the googly eyes, attached it to a headband, and VOILA! I had so much fun making it! It definitely got my creative juices flowing, which leads me to my next project that I am sharing with you today.

Ghost headband

 Now that I was feeling creative, I started looking around at potential items to create with! Isn't that how it happens? So, when I went into the refrigerator, I saw my Laughing Cow cheese container and thought, hmm...I bet that I could make something out of that! 

Trinket box

The next thing I knew, I was wrapping ribbon around the outside edges, cutting circles with my Spellbinders for the top, bottom and insides. I found paper in one of my mat stacks to use. I inked the bare edges and added a cross, cut out with Spellbinders. 

I think that it made a cute little trinket box! What do you think?

I hope that you have a wonderful and creative day today! Remember to share creativity with children. It will make their creative juices start to flow!

Hugs!
Deb

A Birthday Card

Hello Faithful Followers!

Today I am sharing a card that I made for my daughter. Her birthday is on 9/11. It's a tough day for our country, but is a special day for our daughter. She loves tropical things, the beach and especially mermaids. So, I chose to make her a mermaid card!

It was a lot of fun working on the "ocean"! I added some sand and glitter with beads to the "ocean floor".  The mermaid has been colored with Copics and then Stickles were used to give her some bling. I hope you like her!

Hugs!
Deb