Practical Scrappers Card Sketch

The current card sketch at Practical Scrappers is just awesome! I really enjoyed making this Thank You card.....(I need to mail it! I keep forgetting!). Be sure to go here to see the sketch and all of the other amazing cards that have been made following this sketch.

For my card, I chose to use a small doily for the main circle. I'm not sure if you noticed, but the scalloped-rectangle piece of paper is a scrap left over from the paper that I used on the layout I shared a few days ago. The title is stamped.....I'm embarrassed to say that I have had that Stampin'Up! stamp set for probably 8 years and I just now cut that stamp out to use on this card. For the flower, I punched out 4 different sized flowers and curled up the edges with a small, wooden skewer. Then I added fine glitter to the edges with some liquid glue and added a small rhinestone in the center. I am really having fun making these 3-dimensional flowers!

I hope you all have a wonderful, crafty day!

The Joy of the Lord......card

I made this card last month and I forgot to share it with you all. This was for a dear aunt of mine who lost her mother, who was a wonderful lady indeed.

For this card, I stamped the verse in an olive green and then I went over each letter with a blender pen that I rubbed in some olive green marker. I don't have one of those neat paper edge de-stresser tools, so I carefully rubbed an Exact-O knife along the edge of the paper and the green mat. Oh, I stamped the verse on water color paper and don't tell my husband about my dangerous use of that Exact-O knife! It scares him to watch me cut an apple, because I hold it in my hand, like my mom always did. Anyway. ;-) I used a Versamark pad and stamped the small flowers on the base of the card.

Now for the fun part. The flowers! At first I had this great idea to use my flower punch, but punches and tissue paper DO NOT MIX! lol So, I used my Big Shot and a flower die and cut out several flowers and that worked well. I did have to use my tweezers to pull the separate flowers apart, because I ran several layers through my die-cutter at once. This takes a very light hand, because the flowers are very fragile. (Does anyone else say "fra-gee-lay" when they type "fragile"? lol) After I had each flower laying out on my table, I used a liquid glue pen and carefully glued each punched flower on top of each other until the flower was a many layers as I wanted. I used my tweezers for this part, too. I made two different sized flowers, but each flower is made up of the same sized flower, if that makes any sense. ;-) I added a rhinestone in the center of each flower to finish them off.

The leaves are punched from green card stock. Then, I placed them on top of a piece of craft foam and used my embossing tool to burnish the center of the leave and to shape each leaf so that it looked more real and dimensional. I'm not sure if I can describe what I did.....maybe I should do a tutorial for you some time! I added some ribbon, because I love ribbon and this one matched my card perfectly, so I had to use it. ;-)

I've been making a lot of cards lately and it's been a great way for me to do some creative therapy.....now to work on some layouts!

Take care!

Rub-On Challenge @ Practical Scrappers!

There are always lots of great things going on at Practical Scrappers and I sure do hope that you make some time to stop by to see all of the fabulous projects that are shared there!

This weeks challenge is to use Rub-On's! I don't have many and it took some rooting around in my stash to find some, but I finally stumbled upon a sheet of rub-on words that all focused on "love". So, I thought of the stamps that I have seen where the words are all fitted together to make a shape and I thought that would be a great thing to try to do with these rub-on's! I crossed my fingers and started rubbing each word on, one by one, and just hoped that it would turn out into a rectangle shape. It worked great and I'm really thrilled with my card!

For the flowers, I punched a large flower from three shades of blue, a medium flower in pink, and a small flower in light pink. I crumpled them all up and the unfolded them a bit, stacked them on top of each other and used a small, flower-shaped brad to hold them all together.

Please stop by Practical Scrappers to see all of the great inspiration there for using rub-on's! Join in on the fun and leave a link to share your projects! We sure would love to have you visit!

Flowers challenge at Practical Scrappers

This weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers is to use flowers! I'm really sick, but wanted to quickly share two projects where I have used flowers.......

For my layout I punched out several flowers and added them around my journaling....

For my card, I added a crochet flower that I had accidentally made while trying to make a round dish cloth. lol I really messed up following the directions, but ended up with this and I knew that I had to use it on a card or layout. Silly, I know, but I think it looks kinda cute!

I hope you all are doing well......I started feeling sick yesterday and it hit me fast and hard. I tried to get some sleep tonight but just couldn't, so here I sit at 1:38 a.m. Ugh......I hate bad, head colds! Take care........ :-)

Card Sketch at Practical Scrappers

Here is this weeks card sketch at Practical Scrappers!

And here is what I did with it......

I stamped the title and colored it in w/ a blender pen and markers. I hand-cut the hearts from some scraps of felt and then did a simple stitch around the edges with brown DMC floss. Kinda fun, huh? lol I think I'll try making some other shapes from felt, too.....like flowers!

We would love for you to play along and show us your creations using this sketch, so be sure to go to Practical Scrappers and post a link to your card on the Mr. Blinkie for this weeks card sketch.....you will have to scroll down a bit to get there!

Die-Cut Challenge @ Practical Scrappers

Here is a card that I made for this weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers to use your die-cut machine or store-bought die-cuts. I used 3 different Cuttlebug dies and added some small rhinestones in the center of some of the flowers to jazz it up a bit. lol I stamped the phrase in black ink and then went over it with a light pink marker and blender pen.
I also made this bookmark that's created using the corner of an envelope. I have been wanting to share this idea for awhile, so I went ahead and did up a tutorial for you all. You can find it in the post below this one or just click here. I used a paisley die from Cuttlebug and cut out three colors of cardstock. Then, I mixed and matched the pieces to make colorful paisleys to decorate my bookmark.

I have more to share, but I'm buried under tons of Girl Scout Cookie paperwork right now! lol I need to be working on it, but I keep getting distracted by sharing new projects here and working on layouts. That's not good! So, off I go......time to work.....it's just 12:50 a.m.....eek. It's going to be a long night!

Bling, bling, bling.....

I'm not quite sure where this past week went, but it sure did go by....I can't say that it went by fast, but it's gone! I meant to share some things with you all here this past week, but I'm just so out of sorts lately. We have been going through so many snow storms and blizzards....I have serious cabin fever! My children just went back to school today! They were supposed to go back last Wednesday, but we ended up having snow days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday because of snow and bitterly cold temperatures. It was -45 with the wind chill! I wasn't able to get any crafting done then because my scrap area is in our mudroom and wow, was it ever cold in there! It's on a cement base, so the floor was freezing and the window are old, so we had some major drafts. Today was actually in the low 30's and it felt like a heat wave! lol So, my little one and I spent some time in my scrap room and I was able to make a card for next weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers. I can't wait to share it, but you're just going to have to wait and see!

This weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers is to use bling! Bling of any kind - glitter, rhinestones, anything sparkly!
I needed to make a sympathy card for a dear friend of mine who lost her father on Christmas Day. So, I decided to use this lily and I added pale, yellow glitter to the flower and then a small, yellow rhinestone in the center. I stamped the image on water color paper and then went around the edges of the image with my blender pen. That created the water color look outside of the edges of the image and also colored in the centers of the leaves and flowers. I did some old-school embossing on the oval. This is something I learned ages ago before home die-cut/embossing machines were even a twinkle in any of our scrappers eyes! I didn't take any pics of how I did it, so I'll have to make up a quick tutorial on it sometime soon. It's easy and cheap and great for anyone who doesn't have a die-cut machine.

I also shared these samples at Practical Scrappers for this weeks challenge. My Gratitude Journal cover and one of my journal pages where I used glitter, plus this layout that you can see here. I've already shared those here on my blog, so I won't re-post pictures of them now.

I have been up to lots of other crafting! Crafting that I can do in my living room and no in my freezing mudroom! So, keep a look out because I'll be sharing them here soon!

I hope you're all having a wonderful and are keeping nice and warm!

Beary Merry Christmas card

This is a card that I made for this weeks challenge to make a Christmas card at Practical Scrappers. This card didn't turn out at all like I had first planned! It's amazing how you start with one idea, but as you start creating your muse takes you off in other directions and you end up with a complete surprise! The idea for my card totally turned when I stumbled upon a small doily in my white embellishment drawer. After I decided to use that, the rest of this card came together really fast. I stamped the image from Stampin' Up! in brown ink and then colored it in with Stampin' Up! markers and a blender pen. I am trying really hard to avoid Copic markers! I WANT them really, really bad but I don't NEED them. My Stampin' Up! markers are all working totally fine and I just can't justify buying new markers at $6.50/$7.00 a piece when I have something that works just fine right now. So, maybe as my SU! markers start drying up, I'll start replacing them with Copics. Anyway, I have found that marking on an acrylic block with the brush end of my marker and then picking up the ink with a blender pen can give me almost the same results as if I had used Copics. The colors aren't as vibrant, of course, but I as I practice I have been able to do some really good shading with my SU! markers. The ribbon is from a package that we got for Christmas last year from Harry & David, or some place like that. Save those ribbons ladies, because you never know when you can use them! I LOVE to recycle things like that! Take care! :-)

Delight in the Day - card - Practial Scrappers

This weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers a sewing. For my card, I cut out several circles of patterned fabric and then used my sewing machine to sew them together in what I can best describe as a wagon wheel spokes. I added a button to the center and use adhesive to attach it to the card base.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day! I am writing out my grocery list right now and then it's off to the store! My mother is driving up and should be here later this afternoon. It's going to be a wonderful and busy week!

Honey-bee card

Here is a card that I had made for last weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers to use acrylic paints. I meant to share it before now, but having the flu last week really threw me off my groove!

I received a special package from my mom a few weeks ago and my goodie was wrapped in some bubble wrap. (It was my favorite vanilla fudge in the whole wide world from Branson!) I had been trying to think of something to do for the acrylic paint challenge and as soon as I saw that bubble wrap, I knew that I had to try using it and paint to make a background for a card or layout. I had heard of people doing it before, but had never tried it myself. Well, it was super easy and so much fun! The first thing I thought of when I looked at the bubble wrap was honey comb, so that's what I decided to do for this card. I'm not sure if anyone else picked up that I was trying to make it look like honey comb, but that's what my muse told me to do so that's what I did. lol

The flower is a wide piece of wire-edged ribbon. I pulled one of the wires to gather the ribbon into a circle and then added a small Prima flower in the center.

I am hoping to take some photos tomorrow of how to do the bubble wrap techinque, so that I can share it here with you all!

Easy-Peasy Ribbon Flowers - tutorial

It has been a pretty crazy and busy week for me. I have actually gotten a lot done in my scrapping area (no layouts but lots of organizing!) and I hope to share with you all what I've been up to soon! But for now, I am going to share with you how to make some easy-peasy ribbon flowers. I took these photos last week while making a flower for a layout and I'm finally able to show you how to make them. They are super cute and I hope you enjoy learning how to make them! I've made them from several different types and sizes of ribbon and they have always turned out super cute. So far, I've used them on my "Silly" layout and my "Thanks from the Heart" card.

So here we go!!!!

The first thing you need to do is pick out your ribbon and cut it. I honestly haven't been measuring them as I make them. I've just kind of been cutting the ribbon to the size that "felt" right. I know that doesn't help you much, but I'll try to explain. lol The thicker the ribbon, bigger the flower will be so you can cut the ribbon longer. Thin ribbon will make a small flower, so you need to cut it a lot smaller, like 2 inches or so. I used a 1-inch thick, organdy-type ribbon above. It's a thin material, so I knew it would gather tighter and make a nice, frilly flower so I cut the ribbon around 5 inches long. You just need to play with it and see how it's going to work, if you're not sure. You can even stitch and gather it (without cutting the ribbon) to see how it's going to look first.
With a nice, sharp needle and matching thread, run a straight sewing stitch all the way across one edge of the ribbon. For my thread, I cut a nice long piece of thread, run one end through the needle, fold the thread in half, and tie the knot about 4 inches from the end. You want the thread double, so it's strong enough to handle your pulling on it later and a long tail at the end of the knot. That way you will have extra thread to hold on to and help gather the ribbon. When you're done sewing, it will look like this:
Now pick up your ribbon and start pushing the ribbon in on both sides until you can bring the two ends together and tie once. Don't tie it in a complete knot yet! Pull the ends of the thread tightly until the ribbon has gathered together tightly in the center and has made a flower. Now you can tie the thread into a knot....or two, or three. lol I usually make a few knots, just in case. lol In the picture below, this is what it looks like after I tied my first "knot" and before I pulled the two threads to tighten the ribbon into a flower. Once you pull the two threads, the center will close of your flower. If your ribbon is thick, it won't close as tightly.
Now take a good look at your flower. See if you can tell where the two ends of the ribbon are. Sometimes the ribbon folds over it's self and hides the ends and looks just fine. Other times, you can easily tell where the ends of the ribbon are and I think it looks a lot better if you can't see the ends. lol So, with this thin ribbon, I was able to just add some Mono-Adhesive to the ends, just a bit, and then pinch the ends together to seal it up. It works great on thin, organdy ribbons. For thick ribbon, I use the same thread that I gathered the ribbon up with and run a straight-stitch down the ribbon and back up to the center to sew those two ends together. I had to do this for the flowers on my "Thanks from the Heart" card, even on those little flowers. Now you can cut off those two threads. Here's a finished ribbon flower!
Now here's the fun part where you can really play! You can add whatever you want to your little flower or leave it like it is. Here are some examples as I was trying to decide what to add to my flower for my "Silly" layout (I ended up picking the button one! lol) :
You could even add another ribbon flower that's smaller....that would look cute, too!

I hope this made sense. This is really the first tutorial that I've done and I tend to get a little wordy. lol If you have any questions, please ask and I'll help as much as I can! I have some other fun, flower ideas to share with you soon! I'd also love to see any projects that you do using these easy-peasy flowers, so please share here!

Take care everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Birthday Card - Practical Scrappers Weekly Challenge

This was a fun card to make! I just recently bought a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders and I hadn't really played with them yet. This challenge was a perfect chance for me to give them a whirl!!! I ran the green white-core card stock through the embossing folder and then I used a light-grain sand paper to lightly rub over the top of the embossed paper and along the edges as well. I free-hand-cut the cupcake pieces. The bottom part was put through my paper crimper (talk about rubbing the dust of a severly neglected scrapping tool!!!) The candles are made from pieces of ribbon and the flames were made with a tear-drop punch and rubbed with sand paper also. I also rubbed some darker yellow around the edge of the "frosting" and the edge of the orange matting paper.

This was a really fun technique to do and I can't wait to use it on some more white-core card stock!

Wishing you all a very happy Monday!

A Christmas card for Noah....

This heartbreaking request was posted on Paper Crafts Magazine's Facebook page and I wanted to share it here with you all. Please follow this link to read about Noah and his family's request for people to send him Christmas Cards right now. He is at home on Hospice care fighting his last battle with cancer. He is only 5 years old and his favorite holiday is Christmas, so his family is celebrating Christmas this weekend. I know my card might not make it there in time for their special Christmas, but even if it's a day or so late, it will still be special to him! So, please take a few minutes to send little Noah a Christmas card. Even though I felt like crying the entire time I was making his card, I was blessed with the comfort and grace of God. This story makes my heart hurt. May we all say some extra prayers for Noah and his family. And, be sure to hug your loved ones extra hard today! We are all so blessed.......

Here is the address to send Noah's card to:

Noah Biorkman
c/o 99.5 WYCD
2201 Woodward Heights Blvd.
Ferndale, MI 48220-1511

Thanks from the Heart- card- Practical Scrappers Weekly Challenge

I am so happy to say that I was able to play in my scrap area for awhile, with little GG right by my side, and I was able to get a card done! This one is for this weeks challenge at Practical Scrappers to use at least THREE kinds of ribbon. I saw a ribbon flower somewhere and decided that they would be fun to make and put on a card and I just so happened to have this old Stampin' Up! stamp set that worked perfectly for my idea! I also added some light blue glitter to make it look a little more like water......and well, quite honestly because I bought a few bottles of glitter a week or so ago and I am finding myself having to add glitter to each project now! lol The flowers were very easy to make and I should have taken photos as I made them. Maybe I can do that later, if you all would like to know how to make them. ;-)

Take care and I hope you have a wonderful and crafty day!

Pass It On - Card 2

Good morning everyone and I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! We had a good one here. It was busy, a little stressful, but good! The best part of my weekend, well second best part.... watching my little one play in the leaves yesterday was the highlight of my weekend....so the second best part of my weekend was working on the next card that I'm offering for the Pass It On Ministry.

The inside says:
You make each day a little brighter!

This card could be yours! All that you need to do is make a comment here and on Friday, I will pick a random winner. Then the fun part is up to you! You get to Pass It On to someone who needs a little TLC. That's the beauty of this ministry. Surprising someone with a handmade card. Someone who is in need of some uplifting words, well wishes, thanks......or just to say "Hi!". Be sure to read Kathy's vision of this ministry here. And spread the word! Be sure to check back here on Friday afternoon to see if you're the lucky winner of this card! I hope you all have a wonderful week and thank you for helping me Pass It On!

Pass It on Card Ministry

The Lord works in wonderful ways and I am thrilled that He has led me to meeting Kathy and her new ministry of sharing called - Pass It On. I have been asking God if there is anything else that I'm supposed to do with the grace of creativity that He has given me. I do a lot of things for myself and my family, like scrapbooking, but I still have been feeling a little empty and like I'm not using this grace to the fullest. Then I found Kathy's site and read about the ministry that she felt called to start and I knew instantly that this was an answer to my prayers! So, I wrote Kathy and asked her if I could help and be a card hostess for her ministry. I am excited to say that she accepted my request for help. I've only known Kathy for a little while, but I can tell you that she is a very kind and wonderful person and I truly believe that her ministry of sharing will help touch those in need of some love and support. Please read about Kathy's vision here and be sure to share this ministry with all of your friends and loved ones who would like to win a handmade card to share with others. Remember, that's what this is all about.....to Pass It On!

To start, I will be posting a new card on Monday morning. Leave me a comment and on Friday morning I will pick a random winner and I will mail the winner their card as soon as I receive their mailing address. Then, and this is the most important part of the whole ministry......the winner needs to send that card to someone who needs it. Someone who could use some words of support, get well wishes, of thanks.....someone you love. That's the really fun part of this whole ministry! We have all gotten so wrapped up in this world of technology that we live in and what a wonderful surprise for someone to receive a handmade card in their real mailbox! So, I hope that you tell your friends about Kathy and my blog and join in on this wonderful ministry. Let's see how many people we can bless with these cards!

Here is the card I am offering this week:

The inside of this card says:

Your kindness touches my heart.

You have until Friday morning to comment. I will be picking a random winner at noon Central time on Friday. Thank you so much for helping me Pass It On!!!

p.s.- If I have enough interest, I will offer more cards during the week for you to Pass On..... ;-)

A couple of cards to share

I made these awhile ago but waited to share them here until I got them mailed out! I used to make cards all of the time and stopped. But, now I am trying really hard to start making them again, because I really do enjoy it.


The first is a birthday card that has a bookmark tucked in a pocket on the front. The verse on the outside of it says:
"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you." Romans 1:8

The second is a baby card and the verse inside says:
"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD." Psalm 127:3

The stamps for both cards are from Stampin' Up and I colored both of the images in with Stampin' Up! markers and a blender pen. I am trying very, very hard to keep myself from breaking down and buying some Copic markers. They seem like such a dream, but there is nothing wrong with my SU! markers and I need to use them until they dry out. Then I can start buying some Copics. I did find a great tutorial about how to use your SU! Markers to get similar results as you would with Copics.

Here it is: Paper Pleasing Ideas-Coloring Tutorial