Happy Birthday

 I made this card for my stepdad's birthday which was yesterday. The card base is Recollections 4.25 x 5. The red background is a 4 x 6 photo mat from Creative Memories Hockey set that I trimmed down to fit the card. The pocket stamp, V line stamp, and the fake money is all from Stampin' Up Pocketful of Sunshine Photopolymer Stamp set. The brads are from a friend in my church that gives me scrap supplies randomly. The yellow paper I used for the pocket stamp is also from Creative Memories. What you can't see behind the pocket is a small paper bag from Recollections that I trimmed down to fit behind the pocket so I wouldn't have to use more brads. The green paper for the fake money is also from Creative Memories. I used VersaFine Onyx Black pigment ink to stamp all the stamps using my Tim Holtz Platform. He liked the card and thought the fake $5 was real for a second! LOL I wrote in the 5. He loves watching football and Washington Redskins so I was trying to stick close to their colors. The happy birthday stamp is from The Stamps of Life butterfly2stamp set. I know the pocket doesn't really fit with the Redskins theme, but I have been wanting to use the pocket stamp set.

This is the inside of the card I made on Sketch #277 Happy Birthday. I decided to add the You are One Cool Chick stamp- from The Stamps of Life farmanimals2stamp and the dies are also from the same set. The card was for my friend, Laura, who works with horses and lives on a farm/ranch. I call it a ranch, because they don't have pigs or chickens. Her anniversary and birthday is the same weekend so I decided to add the horse stamp- also from the same Stamps of Life set- and then used the die to cut it out using my Cuttlebug. I used Making Memories Kraft paper for the farm animals and Recollections Strawberries & Cream for the pig. I think I put the chicken die down wrong, but it can be used with either side up. I used VersaFine Onyx Black pigment ink on these stamps and my Tim Holtz platform as well. Laura and my stepdad's birthdays are both on September 3. I mailed hers last week and hope she has received it by now. I will be participating in a Generations of Love blog hop this Saturday so please be sure to come back and see what we all have to share. Have a great day!

Forever Friends

I made the following card by following the tutorial on Unity Stamp Company blog as demonstrated by Heather Hoffman of Houses Built of Cards.

I used Phyllis Harris ...always from the heart stamp set with VersaFine Onyx Black Pigment Ink and stamped it 3 times on 3 different sheets of Colorbok Boardwalk 12 x 12 Paper Pad that I trimmed down to fit a Recollections A2 card base. I placed the sentiment stamp- forever friends- and the bigger stamp on each piece of paper after I stamped it on typing paper to test the image and sentiment on the card base. I must admit the dimensions are not even all the way around, but I did pretty good to eyeball cut all 3 sheets. I used my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform to stamp the image and sentiment at the same time. I then trimmed each sheet into 3 pieces all at one time- eyeballing again. It was hard to not color in the image and think outside the box, but I did it! Even the paper doesn't completely fit the colors of each section like it should. I saved the other pieces for 2 more cards. I added washi tape- Studio G- at the top of my card to cover up pencil lines that wouldn't erase. I added each strip with Elmer's Glue Bond permanent tape runner. It's easy, but a MISTI or Tim Holtz Platform is a must have to make this type of card. That's all I have to share. I'll be participating in a Generations of Love Blog Hop September 8, so please follow me if you're not a follower and come back to hop with me and some other scrap friends. Have a great day!

Sketch #277 Happy Birthday

I made this card using the above sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for Laura. Her birthday is coming up this September. The card base is Recollections 4 in x 5.5 in card pack, I trimmed a sheet of 12 in x 12 in acid free paper from Recollections Tropic Vacation Paper Pad to fit the card adhered down with Elmers Bond Permanent Tape Runner, the stamp is The Stamps of Life Butterfly2Stamp stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black Pigment Ink that I placed using Tim Holtz Stamp Platform, the cactus and pineapple washi tape is from a swap, the arrows washi tape is Recollections, the sequins are also from a swap and I used Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue to attach the sequins. This is the simplest card I have made in awhile. I used too much glue on the sequins, but I may add a light piece of paper between the card and envelope before mailing in case it's still sticky. Laura and I went to Arizona for Scrap and Stamp Expo last September so that's why I included the cactus washi tape. I thought the pineapple washi tape looks good with the sentiment and the color of the paper. TFL and have a great weekend!

Tropical Bliss Blog Hop

Welcome to the Tropical Bliss Blog Hop

This is a blog hop featuring projects inspired by the tropical sun and fun of summer!

Connie Can Crop is the beginning of this fun filled hop! You should have hopped from Kim's blog- http://pinkzebrapapercreations.blogspot.com/

This is a one day blog hop, but you have until Sunday at 10pm to finish hopping and leaving your love for all of these talented crafters.

We have an awesome sponsor for this hop!!

ANGELA CORCORAN 

WITH MERMAIDS & MONOGRAMS

One lucky winner is going to win all these goodies!!

What do you need to do to win? Easy... become  a follower of each of the fabulous blogs in this hop and leave each of them a comment letting them know what you like best about their projects.

You will have until 10 pm Sunday to finish the hop and leave your comments on every blog to be eligible to win. 

Winners will be announced on Wednesday 8/15/18 at Connie Can Crop.

Be sure to follow everyone and leave a comment along the way!

Now on to my project. I decided to make a scrapbook layout since I haven't made one in a while. I just recently visited my friend, Laura, and her husband, Doug in FL and had a great time. I will be scrapping more pics from my vacation soon! Anyway, back to my layout. The patterned paper is from Recollections Tropic Vacation 12 x 12 paper pad. I looked at several papers I have with palm trees on them and they didn't seem to go well with the pictures. I always struggle with finding the right paper. Please tell me I'm not the only one! This paper fits so well since the palm trees on the paper are so small. I didn't add a lot to my layout so you could see them! The photo mats are from the same 12 x 12 sheet of a set of 8 Making Memories Neon and Kraft Specialty Cardstock. The title- My Fave Snapshot is a cut-out from the Recollections Tropic Vacation pad. The journaling mat I believe is Creative Memories cardstock. I was trying to use a few Stampin' Up products since the picture of Laura is of her in her new Stampin' Up apron and thought the cardstock was Stampin' Up, but I just realized it's not. I typed out the journaling on my computer- I went to visit Laura in Okeechobee, FL in mid-July. We had just returned home from a Stampin' Up workshop that she taught. She just became a demonstrator a few months ago. She had just received her apron in the mail the day before the workshop so I wanted to take her picture. She took the picture of me and told me to strike a pose! I decided to add the flower stamp at the top to have something from Stampin' Up on the layout! It's from Stampin' Up Be Happy wooden block set- it may be discontinued since her cousin gave me the set, but I may be wrong. I stamped it with Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry water based ink on typing paper. I actually came up with an idea for one of the cards for her workshop, Doug came up with another card, and she came up with the third one. I posted what I made 2 posts down from this-  Stampin' Up Cards- it's not a very detailed post just details about each card. Laura's Stampin' Up link is also mentioned at the end of that post if you're interested and don't know a Stampin' Up demonstrator. She gave me her Tim Holtz Stamping Platform since she now has a Stampin' Up Stamparatus, which I didn't use on this layout, but I love it! You can use clear and rubber stamps on it and it helps so much in card making and all your scrapping needs! I must say this is not my normal layout style. I guess you can say I'm learning the less is more method!

close-up of the stamp- I didn't want to cut all the white paper off around the stamp

That's all I have to share today. I must say I have enjoyed hopping with Connie and all these ladies and will miss hopping with them. This is Connie's last hop if no one has mentioned it yet.
Be sure to head over to my friend, Rebecca- http://rebeccaanndesigns.com/home2/rebeccaa/ where I'm sure she has something awesome to share!

Here's our line up in case you get lost along the way.

Connie- http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com 

Sandy- https://simplycraftycreationsbysandys.blogspot.com/

Cindy- https://inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/  

Kim- www.pinkzebrapapercreations.blogspot.com    

Amanda- https://salnclts76.blogspot.com/   

Rebecca- http://rebeccaanndesigns.com/home2/rebeccaa/

Shannon-https://shannonhdesigns.blogspot.com/

  Alicia- http://goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com/

Angela- http://mermaidsnmonograms.blogspot.com//

Sue- https://foleysfriend.blogspot.com

New Stamping Technique

I decided to make my own background on this card. The paper is Recollections Strawberry Cream 8.5 x 11 cut in half and then folded in half. The pink mat under the sentiment is also from the same collection. The stamps that I used as the background are Stampin' Up Summer Occasions that I stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black ink colored in with various colored pencils. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up Be Happy and I used the same ink/ This is the easiest card I used 6 different stamps, well 7, but the little ones I stamped about 4 times each in random places. Once I got started I realized how fun it was and kept going until it was done. I wanted to pop up the sentiment with Pop Dots, but couldn't find any in my stash so I just used Scotch permanent runner and put it off center since the most open space was in that area. This was a new stamping technique for me and I might try it again on a scrapbook page. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stampin' Up Cards

Country Road set. Background is painted with Brusho and the horse/wind vane stamp was heat embossed,  the wagon wheel is made from made a thinlit cut on a Big Shot that goes with Country Road stamp set. Card made from a card kit.

made using a card kit with Floral Phrases stamp set and pearl bling, the flower border is embossed- first stamp with Clear VersaMark and then add silver embossing powder, I forgot to use the embossing buddy before embossing to remove extra sprinkles of embossing powder

 Crafting Forever set, made from a card kit, scallop punch, I've got to work on tying ribbon, but decided to glue down the ribbon and cut at the edges

           

inside of above card front using the same punch and stamp set

 made using a card kit with All the Good Things stamp set and Diamond Dots inside the pot

 inside of above card front, sentiment is from Floral Phrases stamp set

 the girl is from Beautiful You stamp set, the happy birthday stamp is from Country Road set, I fussy cut the polka dot strips from patterned paper to give the card a little more color. I made this card for my stepsister's birthday that was last Sunday while I was gone in Florida

 Apron of  Love set, I stamped it and added I love stamping and scissors to make it a craft apron and then cut it out using the thin lit on the Big Shot and added twine at the top for the strap

 inside of card above, I added a piece of white paper to add a note later

Warm Wishes set, I colored in with watercolor pencils and then went over it with an aqua brush. 

 inside of card above using sentiment from same stamp set

Inspiration for the card set above like this card.

I made all of these cards while I was at my friend, Laura's house, last week. All products used are Stampin' Up. I don't remember some of the ink names, paper names, or embossing powder names. As you can tell, I had fun! She just recently became a Stampin' Up demonstator- Laura McGinnis. She would love for you to order from her and you can see her link by clicking on her name.

Growing In Unity Blog Hop

Welcome to the Growing in Unity Blog Hop! Here's the line-up in case you get lost:

1 Amanda Rhodes http://www.salnclts76.blogspot.com
2 Michelle Peters Kister https://madebymk.blogspot.com/
3 Iona Unny https://craftynomad.blogspot.com/
4 Cindy Gress Messer https://inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/
5 Vickie Yeakley https://stuffbyvickie.blogspot.com/
6 Eileen Mathys www.inkedbyeileen.blogspot.com
7 Stasia Sloma https://www.stampzone.blogspot.com
8 Laura Mooney https://happinessequalscreation.blogspot.com

I must say this is a first for me being first in a blog hop! I haven't used Gina and Me set yet so I decided to make a card using it. The 2 girls, the butterfly, and the sentiment inside are all from the Unity Gina and Me stamp set. I colored the butterfly and the girls in with various sets of colored pencils and accented them both with Gelly Roll Metallic Silver and White pens. The card is Pink Paislee Wild Child 04 Double Sided Paper cut to A2 size (4 x 5.5 in). The butterflies I fussy cut from One Canoe Two Hazelwood Flock Double Sided Paper- both papers can be found at Paper Issues. The word "Smile" is from Jillibean Soup Hampton Art Word Veneer Words. I just added Scotch Permanent Adhesive to it to hold it down along with all the other stamped images and butterflies. I used Versa Fine Onyx Black pigment ink on all the stamps except the butterfly I used Ranger Tim Holtz Shaded Lilac Distress Ink. I also used a Tim Holtz platform the first time on this card, well here at home. I made more last week on vacation, but with Stampin' Up stamps. I'll share those cards in another post.

Close-up of inside. I just added a piece of the pink striped side so I can write a message before I give it to a friend this week. We've never taken a selfie together, but she just had surgery recently so I made this an a thinking of you card and we do always have fun just enjoying each other's company!

Go to Michelle's blog next and enjoy the rest of the hop! Please come back again this week to see the cards I made with Stampin' Up and feel free to become a follower so you can find my blog easier. Have a great day!