Two Very Special Birthdays!

Tomorrow our grandsons, Alex and Jason, turn 1! Our daughter and I have spent an incredible week together with the boys in Orlando, having been joined by my terrific mom-in-law, who flew down on Tuesday! Tonight, Gramp and Uncle Bryan will also join us so that tomorrow we can all go to the Disney Character Breakfast together! These boys are just so incredibly precious and have come such a long way in the last 12 months, when they were born 6 weeks early. I can't even imagine what life was like before they arrived - they bring so much joy and happiness to us all! I'll be posting photos of tomorrow's adventures as well but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of Alex's birthday card (Jason's is exactly the same but has HIS name in it)! Hope they like them and all their presents and all the fun we're gonna have.....

Some of my Stamping Buddies - the SOS Jax Group!

SOS - Stamping Overcomes Stress! These are some of my SOS Jax friends (missing Lynn and Sharon and a few others). We have become good friends over the months we've been in Jacksonville and have such a great time together! Our fearless leader, Lee, is second from the left, and "it's ALL her fault"! She's the best! She's a great Stampin' Up demonstrator and a great friend as well. She inspires all of us! I'm really going to miss these special friends and hope to be able to stamp with them again soon!

It's tough to get enough of Fall!

A 3-D pumpkin makes a cute card, don't you think? I cut 5 ovals with my Nesties, ran them through my Cuttlebug to emboss with the dots, attached them back to back after folding them each in half, attached the flat side to the card, gave the pumpkin a stem and a few leaves and viola! My 3-D pumpkin card! I cut my leaves from c/s which I fold in half, and then run it through my crimper to give it dimension and "veins". I love how they turn out. Had this dp as our daughter gave me a bunch of her "I'm never going to use these" supplies (what a great day that was for me!) and it makes a great background! Since we don't get to see enough of Autumn because we live in Florida, we just have to make our own, don't we?

Inlaid Embossing - Autumn Style

I saw an example of "Inlaid Embossing" the other day (please forgive me, I don't remember who posted the technique) and decided to try it. French Foliage works perfectly, stamped first, and then embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I dyed the jute by running it across my stamping pad, holding it with a piece of sponge. This went together quickly and made a card that I gave to a very special friend. I knew she had recently purchased this set and wanted to give her another idea of how to use it. Hope it helps you too!

Autumn Treats for my favorite Sweets!

I decided to make some treats for my family and had to share the photos with you. Sorry they didn't come out better but you'll get the idea, I'm sure! I made dipped pretzel rods and decorated them with fall leaf sprinkles. I found these cool cello bags at Michael's and they are the perfect size. I used my Nesties to cut toppers, and stamped some leaves from French Foliage, along with "Just for You" on each. Hope my family enjoys their treats! Happy Fall, Y'All!

All dressed up with a pretty fall bow!

Well, I made the 3 candle box and decided to decorate it with some beautiful ribbon that I found at Michael's. I also used the piece that I cut out of the top as a tag for the gift! I stamped the top first then had this tiny little piece after I cut out the spot for the clear sheet so I thought - why not make that the tag? We stampers tend to be resourceful and some of us have a very hard time getting rid of even tiny scraps of paper! I stamped on tissue and then applied the images to the candles with my heat gun (using wax paper, wax side down really helps). Even though I like the way they turned out, I think it's still easier to use white candles. These will look pretty in clear votive holders!

It's just around the corner, you know!

Christmas is just around the corner and the ideas are making my head spin! There's just not enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas if you ask me! I love Autumn and the change of season means cooler temps, etc. With me, it means getting out those great "Fall" colors and stamps but then all too soon, it's time for the reds and greens and blues, etc. of Christmas! I'm so torn when I sit down to create these days - will it be for Autumn or Christmas? Well, this one is for Christmas and I love it! It went together so easily and can't wait to make some more! I will hopefully be sharing this with some friends in Orlando soon and I hope they'll like it too! The original idea came from Australia and from a SU demonstrator who brought it to Shelli. I found it somewhere online and had to duplicate it. Hope you like my version of the Star Card!



Front - closed



Back - closed



Card Open!

It's Pumpkin Time!

I made several of these little pumpkins last year and remembered just how much I liked them when I saw one (that I had made) at the front desk of our hotel last week! I revised it a bit with the stem but it's so fun that they last for more than just one season! Want one? Drop me a note and I'll see if there are any left in the "Pumpkin Patch"!

Autumn Candles

I really like decorating candles with stamps and I recently found directions for a box to hold them! Carla Brasher's instructions were for a box to hold 3 candles but I revised it for 2 and it works perfectly! The little boxes can be so easily decorated with some jute and a twig for a touch of fall! These are perfect for any season so expect to see more soon as they'll make wonderful little Christmas gifts!

Here I am - waaaaaaaaaay behind on posting!

Well, it's been months since I've posted anything on here and there's so much new that I hardly know where to start! We've been really busy - traveling and getting ready for our temporary move to San Diego in January. However, I find that my NEED to create is what keeps me on track and things do not go as smoothly when I'm not able to create. (Guess I should have taken another look at my blog title - I chose it for a reason!) Anyway....I guess I'll start with a birthday card for Keith's brother. The card should have been in the mail already - what else is new? So I'll share it with you before he gets to see it! Happy Birthday, Lenny! 



Inside - peek-a-boo!



Card front





Happy Birthday to our son-in-law!

Our son-in-law is such a special guy - a wonderful husband and Daddy too! He loves to ride his motorcycle and he and his dad joined my husband on a Guys Bike Trip last Spring to North Carolina. They had a great time (as did Alison, the boys, and I, who stayed behind) and I made this card especially for his birthday - so he could remember their special time together! I used strips of a map as a background. I wove them together to create an interesting mat, mounted the motorcycle with brads, placed it on a embossed background (yes, it's the Square Lattice embossing plate), and sponged some Soft Suede to age the look a bit. Since we're heading to Ft. Myers for the weekend, we'll celebrate his birthday while we're there! Hope he likes his card! I'll probably be posting some photos of the boys too - keep checking  back!

Memory Tin

This little photo tin has brought smiles to all the faces that have seen it - it's filled with wonderful photos of our identical twin grandsons! The photos that feature both of them are on one side of the fold out pieces of c/s and individual photos are on the back side. I plan to make lots more of these - I'm thinking Christmas gifts.....I'm also planning on teaching some classes - anyone interested? Let me know!

Shine On, Harvest Moon

Found my inspiration for this creation online - I just took it a few steps further by adding the moon and using Autumn colors. I love easel cards, and my new square lattice embossing folder, which I used. I made 3 of these today - this is the first and it's for a friend who lost both her parents yesterday in a very tragic car accident. Please pray for Janet and her family as they go through the coming days. Thanks for looking and praying for our friends.

Fifth Avenue with a Twist!

I was inspired by France Martin - Stamping With Frenchie - to make this card. I stamped the rose from Fifth Avenue Floral with Versamark on Melon Mambo, then embossed it in black. I took a small paint brush and applied bleach to the edges of each petal. When the bleach had dried, I applied Two Way Glue and Dazzling Diamonds. The rose, once cut out, was then mounted to the Very Vanilla, which had been embossed using Elegant Bouquest ef from SU. I applied glitter to the centers of the flowers on the VVc/s as well. The sentiment was stamped in Melon Mambo and mounted on Certainly Celery, as was the rest of the card.

I love this new technique - thanks for looking!

Here we are!

Okay, for all of you who think I've totally lost it, I figured out what I did regarding my double post of Bryan's Graduation Card. I had already written my blog entry and thought I had scheduled it to post but found out that it had only been saved as a draft. Unfortunately, I didn't find this out until after I had already posted the revised version. So, when I went back to post the original, it was already too late. Sorry about that! Anyway, here's the family photo from Tallahassee following Bryan's graduation. Alison, Keith and I are all so proud of Bryan - he really worked hard to achieve his degree. This was taken in one of the many beautiful parks in Tally.

Thanks for reading my story and sharing this family photo with me.

We're so proud of our son!

This is the card that I made for our son, Bryan, who graduated from Florida State University last Saturday. (I thought I had already posted it but found out that I had not yet. Oops - my bad.) Anyway, I printed out some sayings from The Quote Garden.com on vellum and used those on his card. I also used some great graduation stickers. His favorite part was the contents (not shown here) of the small vellum envelope! He did love the card too and wants me to start offering my cards for sale. He's encouraging me to "set up shop" on the internet - what do you think?

For Olivia

This is the card I made today for Olivia, the sister of Bailey, my friend, Kathy's grandson who had the emergency appendectomy last Sunday. I posted the card I made for Bailey and was thinking that it might be nice to do one for his sister, since her brother is getting so much attention at the moment! I used the flourish from Elements of Style, stamped in Rose Red. I had been given the dp by their Memaw so it was a great chance to use it for this card. I used my new Martha Stewart punch for the edge, weaving ribbon through the edge to give color to the punched flowers. Tied a ribbon around some small silk flowers, attached them with a glue dot, and added some girly bling - just for Olivia! Hope she likes it!

Congratulations, Bryan!

Here's my 3rd Tri Shutter card - a Graduation card for a Very Special Person - our son, Bryan! He will be graduating from Florida State University this Saturday, August 7! We are so proud of him and all that he has been able to accomplish! His sister, Alison, graduated from the University of Central Florida, in 2001, and will be joining us in Tallahassee for the weekend. Even though her husband and twin sons can't join us, we are so excited about our mini Family Reunion!!! Keith and I are both so thankful that God has chosen us to be Alison and Bryan's parents. They are such awesome blessings in our life and we are so very proud of both of them
So, more about the card: I really personalized this one. I picked out several wonderful graduation quotes from The Quote Garden.com - a fabulous website, devoted to quotes for all occasions. They have an awesome assortment - be sure to check it out. Then I chose the layouts, fonts, sizes, etc. for each and printed them all out on vellum. I added them in various spots on the card. I printed Bryan's info on vellum as well, attached all the vellum with 2 Way Glue, applied behind the text so it wouldn't show. I added faux brads, punched from dp, put on glue dots, and then covered with Glossy Effects. I used some EK Success stickers and added a vellum envelope, which will hold a surprise of either a gift card or cash.
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Thanks for letting me share this card and some thoughts with you today!   Hugs, Amy   =D

Bugs & Wishes, Bailey

"Bugs and Wishes, Bailey" was designed and made for my friend's 11 year old grandson, Bailey, who is recovering from a ruptured appendix and subsequent surgery. Having grandsons, I can only imagine what a tough time this is for the whole family. My friend, Kathy, thought it would be fun for friends to put him in the middle of a "Card Shower", so this is my contribution. Hope he enjoys all the positive attention and that it helps his recovery! We are praying for him every day and hope he'll soon feel good enough to "bug" everyone again! (This is my 2nd Tri Shutter card - 3rd posting will be tomorrow so be sure to check back!)

Trifold Flowers for a VSF!

I've been wanting to try my hand at making one of these cards and before I could even get the first one posted, I have created 3! This is my first and one of my top 3 favorites - once I figured it out, I just wanted to keep on going! Each one is so unique! I hope the VSF who receives this one will be pleased with my attempt - if not, I'll just have to keep trying! I'll be posting another one tomorrow!

Until then, keep your eyes to Heaven and never stop praying! Hugs, Amy

I love our FAMILY!

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

 

I found this great site this morning and decided to create our family to share with you. (Sorry Spencer, the dog just didn't look anything like you - he wasn't nearly cute enough!). Anyway, you might want to check it out and make your families part of your blogs too! Have fun! Will be back later with some new card creations! I've been busy at my table again and can hardly wait to share! See you later!

It's a bloomin' watering can!

This image is from Cowgirl Up Digital Stamps. I love watering cans - especially when they're filled with beautiful flowers as CJ did with this one! I colored them with markers, added some gems for centers, butterflies just because I love 'em, and an extra flower to support the easel. I cut the leaves out of the same dp that I used on the base, folded them in half, and ran them through my crimper for their "veins". Thanks to Cowgirl Up for supplying this great image. You can find more of CJ's images at http://www.cowgirlupdigitalstampenranch.com/.

Happy Birthday to a friend I've never met...

My friend, Kathy, is always doing good deeds for others. She sent me a request for a funny birthday card for a gentleman who'll soon be celebrating his 91st birthday. He goes to the same church as one of our mutual friends and is special because he is always going the extra mile for others. So I decided to make this for him! As it turns out, he may even know some people who have been special in my life, who once attended his church. It's a small world sometimes and I'm glad that God completes the connections!

Happy 91st Birthday, "Fast Eddie"!

Friends - Tried and True!

Gotta love these flower pot cards - filled with pansies straight from the garden! Actually, my garden is now my craft table! These pansies were made with watercoloring with reinkers on white card stock and then punching out with SU's butterfly punch! Add a small brad in the center and they come alive! Pansies are among my favorite flowers, going all the way back to when I was a little girl (and believe me, it is a LONG way back!). The pansies are on a card which pulls out from the flower pot, which I cut out, decorated with ribbon, a punched edge, some dp, and a delightful Mary Engelbreit tag! All this and my hands never touched the dirt! Hope you enjoy this creation!

Operation Write Home

Well, here it is - the first batch of cards that I'll be sending to Operation Write Home. Actually I'll be adding some additional cards too but I've had this idea in my mind for awhile now and it's so fun to see them DONE! I used LeeAnn Greff's One Sheet Wonder, which I purchased from her quite a long time ago. She has created templates which you print onto cardstock and then cut and assemble according to her directions. You choose your own colors and embellishments. I obviously chose the Stars and Stripes theme with red, white and blue as my colors. I used ribbons, punches, and stick-on embellishments to add to the Stampin' Up sayings to complete the 10 cards. I also used some SU embossing folders. These cards will be sent to our troops so that they can use them to keep in touch with their loved ones back home. To find out more, check out the website at http://www.operationwritehome.com/. You can also check out LeeAnn's site at
flowerbug.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/one-sheet-wonder.html.

Shut the screen door!

The front of the card

The inside

This poor butterfly must be so frustrated that someone shut the screen door and she can't get to these beautiful hydrangeas! Yes, I used real screen between a layer of Basic Gray and Bravo Burgundy. I used 2 different size nesties to form a "frame". Both layers were run through the cb and embossed with the Elegant Bouquet folder. I used stickles on the centers of the embossed flowers. The All Aflutter butterfly was colored with a blender pen and reinkers. I used the Scalloped Oval punch on the inside, cutting off the bottom so that it would align with the edge of the card. It says "Love You" on it but it's hard to see in the photo. The flower blossoms on the inside of the card were also done with a blender pen and reinkers. Their centers were also accented with stickles. Hope you enjoy my creation! Have a wonderful day and don't forget to shut the screen door! = D

Bloomin' Beautiful!

Sorry I've been "missing in action" but the key word there is "action"! I have been stamping and creating still but just haven't had a chance to post! However, I hope today's card will make up for some of the long time. It's always so fun when you start out with just an idea and then watch it grow into an actual creation! I don't mean to blow my own horn but I have to say that this one is one of my most favorite cards that I've ever created. It includes so very many techniques and elements. I stamped and colored the 2 flowers, cut them out using the out of the box technique, sponged the edge of the oval, embossed a larger oval, layered them both on top of a background which I used a brayer to emboss the color on. I then turned all this into an easel card. I used ribbon on top of a small strip of coordination c/s, on which I used the Scalloped Edge punch. I stamped the word on another strip of c/s and then used my Scalloped Oval punch to cut it out. I made the strip smaller than the punch to created the flat top and bottom. The finishing touch was the bumblebee, which I stamped, flocked, and used Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the wings before mounting him for his flight! I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it! Have a terrific day and I will try to post again soon!

A Bouquet for YOU!

Here's a card that I made last weekend with a new-to-me SU set called Pocket Silhouttes. I made it for the Stampin 411 Challenge - using Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Real Red, and Bashful Blue (my substitution). This is such a sweet set and is on its way to quickly becoming one of my favorites. I also used Beautiful Wings, my favorite little Sizzix Embosslits folder, to make the butterflies. I embossed the center panel with Elegant Bouquet, one of my favorite embossing folders, and used the new Square Lattice for the main card.  What a fun creation - and the bouquet's just for YOU! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Val!

Today is my dear friend Val's birthday and this card is the one that I made when we were together stamping last Friday! We met just a little over a year ago on Splitcoast, over a comment that I made on one of her beautiful cards. After we discovered that we both lived in Orlando, we were able to get together to meet and we've been great friends ever since! To top it off, our birthdays are only a day apart! She's like a sister to me and knows me so well and stamping together is one of life's great pleasures - even though we don't get the opportunity often enough! She loves the Asian theme so we both used Asian Artistry to create similar cards as we spent our stamping time doing something totally stress free - not stamping for anything other than pure pleasure! So, here's to you, Val, and I hope your birthday is every bit as special as you are to me! Love you!

July 11th

Well, Happy Birthday to ME! Yes, today is my birthday and I'm celebrating in style with a Cowgirl Up Sunday Challenge! This week we had the opportunity to use a wonderful image of our choice from Delicious Doodles! The prize for this week's winner will be 3 images of YOUR choice from this great site! Go check it out and make your best effort for the Cowgirl Up Challenge! You may use any image that you'd like for your card but keep in mind that this week's challenge is all about your favorite ice cream or sherbert! Use those colors and make us all hungry! My favorite was Raspberry Sherbert (along with chocolate cake and fluffy white icing) so I chose my colors accordingly. Go forth and do the same! Happy crafting!

If your card is chosen as the winner, your prize will be that you can pick 3 images by choice from her store and 2 images of choice from CJ's Cowgirls Up!

Along with a "Winners Badge" to display on your blog!

The "Top 3" will win 1 Image of choice from CJ"

and a "Top 3 Badge" that they will be able to proudly display on their blogs.

More Elements of Style

Once again, I used my Elements of Style set, this time with Rich Razzleberry, to create this card. The white ribbon and bow add just the right touch. There are so many great card ideas on SCS, and my friend, Karen, and I had fun just putting our touch on several of our favorites recently. It was fun to start out with a great idea and then make it our own. This was a fun and quick card which produced a great result, I think. Thanks for looking!

From the Heart

Again, another simple card that I cased from SCS. The color and simplicity make the card seem "cool" to me - a welcome addition to these hot summer days in Florida! I used Elements of Style for the main image. It would be very easy to step it up a notch or two but sometimes simple is best. As my Mom used to say, "there's elegance in simplicity". Thanks, Mom, for all those words of encouragement that you gave me!

Asian Artistry

Happy Monday! Here's a simple card to duplicate - I chose the Asian Artistry set for mine. I love its simplicity and of course, the little butterflies which add just the right touch. I'm really enjoying these simpler cards - they seem to fit with the warm days of summer. Thanks for looking and sharing!

Vellum Butterflies

This card was made by embossing images from Elements of Style on vellum in white, using the Butterfly Punch, and then tying silver cord around each one. I mounted them over the Lavendar Lace butterflies which had also been punched. These were layered on a strip of white c/s, which had been cuttlebugged. I used the great Scalloped edge punch to punch strips of lavendar to place on either side of the center strip. I used white ribbon to tie my bow around the strip before mounting it all on a white c/s base, which had also been run through my cuttlebug. This is another card that I made at Lee's - I love the clean and simple but elegant look, don't you? These butterflies are so pretty! I love the embossing on them!

Happy July 4th!

Happy July 4th, Everyone! Last week, I was asked to become a member of the Cowgirl Up Design Team! I'm so excited to be a part of this new venture! Each Sunday, there will be a new challenge, with some awesome blog candy! This week's challenge is Scallops and Embellishments, and the Blog Candy is being offered by CRAFTY RIBBONS. Here's a photo of what you'll receive if you win:

Here's a link to the COWGIRL UP STORE. You'll find some awesome digital images here. We would love to see you use them in your designs but it's not mandatory.

Here is the link to all the information on Cowgirl Up Sunday Challenge

Can't wait to see your designs on the website! Come on and have fun with us - saddle up your horses, and let's enjoy this adventure together!

Almost forgot, here is my entry for this week:

Happy Golfing Birthday!

Although all my brothers-in-law play golf, this card's for the one who has a birthday in July! Found this great little stamp at Big Lots for a real bargain and just made the card around it! If you take a closer look, you will see that the golf ball even has dimples - made by my cuttlebug dots folder then I turned over the c/s! Finished it off with matching buttons for a masculine feel. Hope he likes it!

Happy 1st of July!

I used one of my favorite sets, Watercolor Trio, to create this card. I colored with markers on the stamp, misted with water, and then stamped the image. It gives it a soft look. I used my MS Scoring Board to emboss the lines and then added a pearl - just because!

Elements of Style

I used Elements of Style for this card, embossing with Elegant Bouquet, using my corner rounder, and accenting with Stickles. I like the finished card - cased from one I saw on Splitcoast! Clean and simple is a great way to go!

Summertime Flowers

Some fun flowers in fun colors for summertime! A bow of Mary Engelbreit ribbon and some bling finish this card off nicely, don't you think?

Upsy Daisy - there's a lot of birthdays coming in July!

Looked at my reminder book and was once again astonished that there are so many birthdays to be celebrated in July! Personally, I think it's a great month for a birthday - such a great month, in fact, that I decided to have mine this month too! So this is the first of many (very many) birthday cards to be sent out to family and friends this month! Upsy Daisy is one of my favorite sets to use and it's perfect for birthday celebrations. I used my markers to color the stamp, used my cuttlebug for embossing, and also for cutting out the beautiful wings butterflies for the circles too. Thanks for looking!

Kick off your shoes -

Kick off your shoes - it's Flip Flop time! How do you like this fun card? It'll be on its way to our daughter soon so don't tell her! Hope she likes it! It was quick and easy to make and lots of fun for the hot Florida summer!

Another Faux Linen Card

Another example of Faux Linen - done at Lee's class. Fun, fast, and fabulous - what more can you ask for?