A heart full of gratitude

A really cool photographer here is blessing the public service community with free photoshoots as a way of saying thank you for all you do. 
We are thrilled with our pictures.  I wanted to so something special for her so I decided to get out my favorite character stamps, Newton's Nook, and make some cards for her.

Up first is the kitten, Newton, holding a ribbon of courage which I colored with tombow markers in the 'thin blue line'.  It says "Life is tough but so are you."

This playful kitten reminds us that "you're never too old to play".  I mimicked the ball of yarn with the  yellow string tied around the layer piece.  Some golden bling finished out the charm of this card.

This card makes me laugh every time. The front of the card reads the familiar saying 'a little birdie told me it was your birthday...' Inside Newton says "so I ate him" ! I used the twine that comes wrapped around the stamps.  The stamps come so neatly packaged! It makes you want to "get your Paws inky" which is their slogan for their stamps.  Cute, isn't it?

I love Coffee and when you combine it with cats....it's just too cute. This card has several layers one which I embossed in my texture machine.  I then 'roughed it up' with some sandpaper.  I love how the core makes it look shabby chic. I love using the Tombow markers especially the gray scale set. It's perfect for different shades of kitten color! "I need some coffee right MEOW"

"MEOW you doing?"  What a cuddly cat...and a simple card to  send to a friend to ask how they are doing today.

I had so much fun designing this card.   I cut out a small oval in the front panel of the card.  Then, I stamped around it making my own paper design.  On the inside panel I stamp the birthday bag with the perfect gift!  The caption says, "let the cat out of the bag".

Once again my favorite stamp set...Newton Loves Coffee. A simple card design enhanced by an embossed layer and some twine and bling.  A great card to let someone know you care.

And we all know that "Coffee is ALWAYS a good idea!".  I love to use the heat embossing technique and it looks so sleek in print.  Also, just rounding the opposite corners on a square or rectangle, make it stand out for a modern look.

Newton looks like he's so excited "it's your birthday" that he's taking a balloon ride through the air and his party hat is flying off! This feminine card has 'fancy' corners made with scissors bought years ago.  Do you try to reuse your 'old' tools in a new way?  I enjoy trying to brain storm new ideas.

 

Thanks for looking at my cards.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did making them.  Until next time,

Vicki

Train is coming down the track

My oldest boy loved trains.  I wish I would have had these stamps when he was little. :)  But he still fell in love with this card!  I love the dimensional of this card.  For the background I used the forest stamp on Lovely As A Tree, then I attached it behind the oval cutout.  On a separate paper I stamped the train and then fussy cut it out.  I stamped three pine trees and cut them out.  Using the foam tape I taped the train in the center of the oval.  Then I placed the trees around the train.  Super cute card and masculine at that!

Who doesn't love Santa's train? And that hat?  I've been crafting some Christmas cards. I used this sketch for the CYCI #136 Sketch Challenge at Can You Case It?  It's even prettier in real life....love this.

I used black card stock for the card base.  Then used SU! silver paper and embossing-large dots. The stamp is from the new CHRISTMAS MAGIC set. Add the frosting SU! paper die cut and Jolee's Santa's hat...it's finished! Quick and easy.

dreaming of a beach in England

Now that sounds different for me...right? Ever since going to London in 2012, I have fallen in love with England.  I was happy to find this challenge from the UK.  and the theme was beaches.
On this blog, CASology; week 214; beach, they like the clean and simple look.  I do also at times when making cards.  I guess I lean that way more than the other with lots of flowers and frills.  May have something to do with having boys.....

I chose a light sea blue, with a little darker blue for the squares. It was really easy to do this card if you use a 1 inch/ 1.5 inch punch. Then I stamped the images from a retired Close to My Heart  mini set called SPLASH.  I added the fibers, that made me think of seaweed.  The memories is stamped in SU! crumb cake ink.  The stamp itself is a old EK success stamp.  Before the M, I placed a sea green pearl reminding me of the pearl of great price.

Newton's Nook and Burlap and Lace....Lovely

I LOVE working with Newton's Nooks designs.  I'm not getting anything from them to say this :) It's just true. They have the cutest stamps. Of course, anything cat I love. I also love how the polymer stamps are so crisp and you can see through them which makes it e.a.s.y to stamp.

Now on with my card.  I'm doing this card for their Burlap and Lace Challenge.  I love entering the different challenges because it forces me to stretch my creative thinking. Kinda like blogging....it's been too many years ago since I've done this. :) Back to the burlap and lace.... 

 I found a 2 inch piece of burlap ribbon and trimmed the wire edges off with my dull scissors. I think stamped the frame from the set "Around the House" on paper and cut it with an exact-o knife.  I used tear and stick tape from SU! to adhere it very strongly.

I took lace, cut it in half horizontally, then using the sticky tape on the bottom part of the lamp, I adhered the lace so it looked like a doily.

I used Tombow and SU! markers along with a gel pen....cause it just needing some stitching and I don't sew! I tape!

 The sentiment reads "you light up my day!".....which reminds me of a song I loved to play on the piano..."and feel my heart with song..."

This guy is just too adorable to not be framed!  Hope you enjoyed it.  I did and it was a quick card to make.

Summer is ending...what better way than to spend it with family

This fun card was inspired by the upcoming holiday and http://sharejoychallenge.blogspot.com/2016/08/share-joy-challenge-50-sketch.html.

What fun to participate in challenges that make your mind think along different lines.  This challenge had a sketch and/or theme idea....which I decided to use both.

The cardstock used is from my stash.  The stickers are also but from two different lines.  The BBQ and definition is from Karen Foster while the others are from Bo Bunny.  The embossing on the orange cardstock is from sizzix luxurious A2 large.

What your plans for the weekend?  I plan to spend it with family with maybe a cookout thrown in there some where :).

Freshly made sketches

FMS251 this sketch inspired this lovely card.
http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.ca/2016/08/sketch-251-sketch-by-cindy.html?m=1

You are Never too Old to Play

Yep...It's the playful kittens again! Newton's stamp kitties are at it again.  I thought the kittens turned out adorable and I loved the design sketch I used as a suggestion. 

 Thanks for looking at my creations!

Vicki :)

A kitten hello

I love kittens and cats.  I fell in love with these dimensional cat faces/stickers from Anna Griffin. Adding a half doily, flowers, ribbon and pearls made this card a favorite of mine.  With the green, pink and craft background the kitten seems to pop off the page. What a gorgeous hello.

Christmas Kitty

Meowy Christmas! 

This kitty cut from the cricut cartridge "Designer Calendar" makes a cute Christmas kitten.

  With the festive background paper from my stash, I added a doily cut in

 half and some ribbon fibers around the neck for a wintry touch.

 I popped the kitten up with dimensionals.

 So fun!

I'm here for you

I love Newton's Nook stamps.  This one I bought especially for the ribbon kitty as I have had cancer and I have family that  uphold the thin blue line.   First, I masked the circle and sponged the ink on using Stampin' Up! Dapper Denim, Peak a boo Peach, and sweet sugarplum.  I colored the kitty and cut him out to adhere on the circle. I stamped the hearts directly on the cardbase.  After heat embossing the sentiment "I'm here for you", I made a banner and popped it up with dimensionals. I made the kitty holding a thin blue line and fell in love with it all over again!

You Light Up My Life

This is a simple but favorite card of mine using the "Jars of Love" stamp set from Stampin' Up! I choose to put fireflies inside my jar; wrap it with a "burlap" ribbon, add a lid and hanger and the fireflies are there to stay. The sentiment is what makes this card so cute. "You Light Up My Life"

Birthday cupcakes!

Add some colored glitter to the cupcakes and you have a sparkling card. 

 Happy Birthday has never been so easy.

A Card for the Man in your life

Need a masculine card? This is a simple card using a background piece cut a 1/4 smaller than the A2 card base.  Top it with a striped piece of paper along with a feature stamped old car from Tim Holtz.  I stapled the ribbon to the side of the feature square and stamped the word HI. 

A very easy card to make in a short time!

Christmas is coming....

Christmas will be here before we know it.  You might want to take a look at the versatility of the stamp set "Lovely As A Tree" from Stampin' Up! I stamped with versa mark ink the trees onto black cardstock.  I then heat embossed it with multi-green embossing powders, After it was cooled, I took a white chalk pen from Stampin' Up! to add the snow. Add some festive ribbon fibers and you've got a fairly quick card that looks like it took all day to make :)!

Using papers from your stash

Here are a few cards I made using papers from my stash.  I have a lot of papers I need to use! I enjoy using layers, ribbon, dimensionals, and flowers. Hope they inspire you to CREATE!

Music composition

I  love music, so of course, I was happy when I found this dry embossing plate with the staff on it.  I already had the grand piano stamp which I heat embossed then mounted it to a black background.  Add some ribbon and a sentiment "Just a Note" and this card is ready to go! Easiest composition you'll ever make!

Simple Elegance

A beautiful bride with simple elegance of page design.  

Paper: Tattered and Worn by Paper Studio

Lettering: cricut cutout from my stash (I don't remember...I've had it too long!)

Rub-on: The Bride from my stash.

Solid Color Cardstock: bright blue and pale green

Flower gem on the "L" of love

Ocean Days

I wanted to play along on the Newton's nook blog challenge www.newtonsnookblog.com for summer theme, but I didn't have the stamps that were summer only.  So I decided to think outside the box and check out their free designs on their blog.  I was able to download the image of flip flops and the word beach bum.  As I decided to work with this idea, I remembered the last time I had been to the beach.  It was at the end of summer last year.  My dad had just been diagnosed with cancer ( three years after mine) and we were headed to Houston, TX to MD Anderson Hospital.  They had a delay in surgery time so we were able to spend some time as a family at Galveston, TX. It is a special memory since my dad has already died and went to Heaven . 

 In memory of him, I added the black ribbon for melanoma along with the hearts and sentiments from Newton's Support stamp set. I used Kiwi Lane card borders for the sand which I embossed with copper powder from Ranger. I then used a water brush and Dapper Denim from Stampin' Up! to color brush the ocean and sky. Clear glitter glue from Studio G added the glimmer on the waves.  The markers were Tombow jewel tones and Bic.

Dad always enjoyed my cards and I think he would have liked this one also.

Bon Voyage!

This card was fun to make as it was a little masculine along with beautiful colors.  I used a teal A2 card base, striped paper from Simple Stories, the adventure stamp from Tim Holtz named "Getting There", a strip of washi tape from Stampin' Up! a pop of pink series, and two enamel hearts that are some of the cutest ever. (Also from Stampin' Up!) Don't forget the added white dots with the Stampin' Chalk Marker which completes this awesome card!

Be Strong

Like I said in my last post, this summer has really affected the law enforcement family.  I wanted to make cards to encourage those in law enforcement.  Although this really doesn't represent summer, sadly it does represent the summer  of 2016.

Stamps: Newton's support  www.newtonsnookblog.com and Stampin Up! flourish. Stampin Up! pop of pink washi designer tape. Sentiments: Newton's support stamp at www.newtonsnookblog.com  Markers: Peekaboo peach (Stampin' up!) and Tombow jewel colors royal blue and orange. Dimensional glue adhesive.

You are tough!

This summer has been  a difficult one for those who support the "Thin Blue Line". When I saw the current challenge at Newtonsnookblog.com was to create a project inspired by summer, I thought of the "Newton's Support" stamps.  Since I have family in law enforcement, I thought an encouraging card would be the best.  Also this summer was a high light to attend a seminar of encouragement for law enforcement officers.  Although this is not the typical summer card, for me it represents the summer of 2016.

Stamps; Newton's support www.newtonsnookblog.com, cat, hearts and sentiment; round flourish-Stampin' Up!

A2 white card base, black mat, royal blue mat and black tag. Fibers from my stash. 

One thing I like to do so it's not so expensive or bulky to mail is use a pen to make a faux line around the edges.  I used the Stampin' chalk marker to make the white dots and lines. Other markers used were Tombow and Bic. 

A little birdie told me...Newton's Nook Ombre Challenge

http://www.newtonsnookblog.com/2016/06/inky-paws-challenge-33-ombre.html

Heard you were under the weather Newton's Nook Ombre Challenge

http://www.newtonsnookblog.com/2016/06/inky-paws-challenge-33-ombre.html

hang in there...Newton's Nook Ombre challenge

http://www.newtonsnookblog.com/2016/06/inky-paws-challenge-33-ombre.html