Daisy and Cone Flower Thank You

Sunflowers, daisies, cone flowers - all my favorites!  I used a V.E.R.Y. old CTMH acrylic stamp set that was first released in rubber.  I have them both somewhere.  Whoops-a-Daisy was in the catalog the year I became a Consultant (17 years ago).  But, the design papers are brand-spankin' new!  They are Fundamental Basics and are very useful for both scrapbooking and card making. 

I used Saddle ink on the lighter part of the daisy centers.  Nutmeg ink on the sentiment.  In the image of the card standing up, you can see I repeated the diagonal stripe inside. 

Then, how about the same template with a cone flower from Tim Holtz?

 

I'm crazy about this cone flower image!  It required some masking, and I used my Derwent Inktense pencils to watercolor the images.  Everything else is the same as the Daisy card.  Completely different look!  There is a house near our home in MN that has a very lovely garden of cone flowers - this color!  They are simply breathtaking! It has encouraged me to get out for walks more often!

Birthday again . . .

The yellow roses paper is from the same package of scraps that I found - and under each of the ribbon roses is a pink rose on the paper.  I decided that I like the dimension the ribbon roses adds to the card.  Simple!

Happy Birthday!

Sometimes when you are looking for something, you find other treasures!  At least that is true in MY studio!  I came across a partial packet of retired CTMH paper - and decided to use it to create some Birthday cards!  This one is probably my favorite - I'm guessing it's because of the green silk ribbon (green is my favorite color and silk is just so delicious for decorating cards!).  

Today is my birthday!  I'm celebrating by protesting at my Senator's offices.  Then my Beloved with make lunch for me and we'll play the rest of the day by ear!  

Hugs!!

Shifting to Thank You!

This card only used the cardstock base and pearls from CTMH.  The design papers are from years ago - in my stash - and I think they were Stampin'Up.  The Thanks die is from My Favorite Things.  The card is smaller than the standard A2 - it measures 3 1/2" tall by 4 3/4" wide.  It fits an A1 envelope.  I had a smattering of them left over from the wedding RSVP cards.  

They went together fast, and I love the card - the sweet leaf color and chocolate are so pretty together!  The inside of the card base is the new cardstock feature where one side is lighter than the other.  So, no need to add a piece of white paper for writing, the inside is about the color of the pattern under the word "thanks".  

Hugs!

And maybe some Birthday cards

I used some scraps from a CTMH paper pack, actually two of the items are from Bats & Cats (the Halloween paper) and the others are from the Falling for You package.  The cake stamp set is a retired one that I STILL pull out and enjoy!  The sparkles actually show up on the candles for this card - it's Stickles - Crystal.  I think it could work for a masculine card, don't you?  

Just a few more Christmas cards . . .

Just in case I've missed anybody and need a last minute card I put together these variations on a theme.  

The borders were done with "zip-strips" off of the CTMH Beary Christmas paper pack.  The ribbons from my stash.  The coloring was done on the wreath with Derwent Inktense pencils.  (I really LOVE those pencils!).  

We have a series of entertaining starting tonight.  I'm excited to see our friends, and Steve seems comfortable with all the extra cooking!  Can you believe how close we're getting to Christmas?!  Woot!!

Behold I bring you great tidings of Joy

More of my Christmas cards for this year.  I've been making them in batches  of whatever I have in the paper stash (meaning, I was limited to just 8 of this particular card because of the paper).  I used the brand new Hallelujah stamp set from the Seasonal Expressions catalog.  It's a "C" size set with three stamps - the word Hallelujah being the third image with these two. The ink used was Outdoor Denim (retired CTMH) and I don't know why it looks so black in the photo.  It is really dark blue. 

I think this is called a gatefold card, but not sure.  I was just trying to wean myself off of the other fancy fold card that I was stuck on!  It's still an A2 size, and shows off the pretty papers so nicely!

My cards are mailed, presents wrapped (except for Mr. Baggins' - I still need to stitch his toy together!).  Most of the obligations are completed so I have some play time this week (good thing, I need birthday and thank you cards badly!).  Sending love -

The Angel card

This card uses the CTMH Hostess only "Angel" stamp from two years ago - I still love the angel image.  The "Rejoice" is also from that set but the sentiment on the inside of the card "Behold . . ." is in the current Seasonal Expressions mini-catalog and available until the end of this month.  I've used that stamp set on LOTS of cards this year!  It's fantastic!  

Anyway, Bashful and Pewter are so lovely together.

Some fun Christmas cards

A dear friend gave me a birthday card last year that was this type of card design - I copied it for some fun cards to add to my stash this year for the holidays.  I used the remainder of my CTMH Cranberry color patterned treat bags (approx. 4 x 6").  The bag is folded up and tacked under the belly-band with a little piece of tape.  

I used mostly the Beary Christmas paper pack that is retiring end of the year.  I love it so much I'll probably order another pack - as the first one I got is completely gone!  The scalloped circle element on the front (bottom layer of mat) is made in three different styles - cork, felt, and an dry embossed design paper.  My favorite is the cork.  The little packet of joy fits into an A2 envelope.  😆

So,we are coming up on our 6 year anniversary;  I've gone from about 120 handmade cards for Christmas, down to about 20, and now I'm back up to 70.  I think it's just too much fun to make Christmas cards and I should start sooner and just make enough for everyone!  (We send about 50 store bought cards, too.)  

Have an excellent week.  Hugs!

Masculine birthday

I'm thinking you might be getting tired of this fancy fold card!  LOL  I'm not.  It is so much fun and it really shows off the papers!  The little pieces on the left end of both focal pieces are zip-strips from the papers.  The ink used was Outdoor Denim. I used two sets of (retired) CTMH stamps and a retired paper pack.  But everything is CTMH product.  I will probably be showing a lot of retired stuff - if I've bought it, I still plan to use it!  So there.

We are in the middle of putting up our tree and stuff - so I've gotta run - just wanted to share and say "hello"!

Another fancy fold card like the other ones - Beautiful You

This card uses the same fancy fold as the ones previously posted this month - just different stamps, papers, inks.  

The "Thanks" is a retired stamp - just right for this card!  The roses are three step layered acrylic stamps.  I used Baby Pink, Pixie, and Smoothie. The leaves were Sweet Leaf and Olive.  The sentiments are in Olive ink.

The paper pack is also retired (love that paper!).  I used a dab of washi tape, and the medium size rose on the inside.  The set includes three sizes of roses, with three steps for each of them.  There are three different leaves as well - they are two step.  

I've not had much time to create things - seems like I'm working on our Advent newsletter to family/friends and cards more than anything else these days.  Hope you are enjoying this special time of year!  Hugs!